A Los Angeles landscaper who said he was viciously mauled by French Montana’s Tibetan Mountain Dog four years ago is demanding a $2.3 million default judgment against the rapper and record producer.
Plaintiff Jason Leyva says the 2019 attack left him with lasting injuries affecting his professional prospects and ability to care for his young daughter. He says French Montana, whose legal name is Karim Kharbouch, hasn’t responded to his multiple attempts to serve him with the complaint, so the court should intervene and grant the default. On Wednesday, a judge set a March 25 hearing to consider the request.
“I entered the premises, and, without warning or provocation, the dog mauled and bit me, tearing at my shoulder and hip causing severe injuries which required stitches and injured by lumbar spine,” Leyva said in a sworn statement that was signed and filed with the court on Tuesday. “I am in constant, intractable pain when bending, standing or sitting for long periods of time.”
Leyva’s request for the hefty default judgment comes two years after a Los Angeles jury awarded a different man $129,500 for his injuries following a separate attack at Kharbouch’s Hidden Hills home. In that earlier incident, a dog identified as a “large German Shephard” mauled plaintiff Juan Lomeli as he attempted to clean Kharbouch’s pool in May 2017. Kharbouch tried to fight the case, claiming Lomeli failed to send a text message before entering the property and that the dog had never bitten anyone or displayed “dangerous” tendencies prior to the alleged attack.
With the new case, the landscaper alleges Kharbouch’s Tibetan Mountain Dog had a “vicious nature” that “was known or should have been known” by the artist leading up to the alleged attack on Nov. 3, 2019. Leyva’s request for $2,287,125 in total damages includes the $1.5 million he’s seeking for pain and suffering, the $10,000 he already owes in doctor bills, and the $350,000 he expects to spend on future medical expenses. “Because of this chronic pain in my back and should from which I have been unable to get relief, I am seeking further medical consultations to find out if I may be a candidate for lumbar or shoulder surgery. If I am not, I am afraid that I will suffer from severe, intolerable pain for the rest of my life,” he wrote in his statement to the court this week.
Attempts to reach Kharbouch or a representative were not immediately successful Wednesday. “I don’t know where Mr. Montana is. We’ve been trying to reach him,” Leyva’s lawyer Marc J. Katzman tells Rolling Stone.