Kiefer Sutherland Fires Back At Uber Driver Assault Claim: 'self-Defense'
Kiefer Sutherland has filed his formal answer to an Uber driver's assault lawsuit, denying "each and every allegation" and arguing that any force he used was self-defense against an "imminent threat." The driver says Sutherland choked and punched him during a January ride.
Case at a glance
- Kiefer Sutherland — actor, accused
- Uber driver — driver who accused Sutherland of assault, victim
Next: No hearing date has been reported. The next formal step is a judge's ruling on Sutherland's motion to dismiss the civil complaint with prejudice. Separately, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has said a potential criminal case remains "under review," and no charging decision has been announced.
A midnight ride, then handcuffs
Kiefer Sutherland, 59, was arrested on Jan. 12 after an altercation with an Uber driver, according to PEOPLE and OK! Magazine. New York Daily News describes the ride as taking place in the Hollywood area during a midnight drive.
Rafael Manvelyan, the driver, later alleged in a civil complaint that Sutherland "appeared visibly intoxicated" when he got into the car and grew "increasingly hostile, aggressive, and confrontational" as the ride went on, according to the lawsuit cited by PEOPLE and OK! Magazine. Manvelyan claims Sutherland threatened him with "serious bodily injury and death" and then attacked him while the vehicle was moving.
Manvelyan's complaint alleges Sutherland placed him in a "chokehold" and struck his "head, face, neck, and upper body with closed fists," per PEOPLE. He says he tried to get out of the moving car while "fearing for his life and safety." New York Daily News reports the complaint states the entire incident was recorded.
New York Daily News also notes a discrepancy in the public record: ABC News reported in February that prosecutors asked law enforcement to further examine a "Jan. 16" incident, a date that does not match the Jan. 12 arrest reported by PEOPLE and OK! Magazine. The coverage does not explain the gap, and it remains unresolved.
Who's involved
Kiefer Sutherland is best known for playing Jack Bauer on "24" and for his role in "Designated Survivor." New York Daily News reports he has a prior record on driving-related charges: he spent 48 days in jail after pleading no contest to a 2007 DUI charge, and has had four DUI arrests in total.
Rafael Manvelyan is the Uber driver who was behind the wheel during the January ride and who filed the civil lawsuit against Sutherland in October.
"Acted reasonably and used only such force as was reasonably necessary under the circumstances." — Kiefer Sutherland, in his Nov. 10 court filing, per PEOPLE and OK! Magazine.
The civil case, count by count
Nine months after the arrest, on Oct. 12, Manvelyan filed a lawsuit seeking damages for assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. OK! Magazine reports the same four claims.
Manvelyan says the ride left him with injuries to his "head, face, neck, cervical spine, right shoulder, thoracic spine, lumbar spine, nervous system," plus psychological injuries he describes as "ongoing anxiety, fear, nightmares, emotional trauma, and sleep disturbance," per PEOPLE. He's seeking compensation for lost earnings and medical expenses.
On the criminal side, Sutherland was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats, but no charges have been filed. New York Daily News reports the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said Friday that "a potential case is under review," and that the Los Angeles Police Department had not responded to an inquiry about the status of that investigation.
Sutherland's defense, in his own filing
Sutherland filed his formal response on Nov. 10, denying "each and every allegation" against him, according to PEOPLE and OK! Magazine.
He argues Manvelyan "suffered no injury" and that any psychological distress is likely "attributable to preexisting or concurrent psychological conditions, unrelated stressors or other independent causes." He also claims the lawsuit falls outside the statute of limitations and that Manvelyan brought it in "bad faith" for the "purpose of harassing" him.
On the central question, Sutherland says any force he used was self-defense, taken because he reasonably believed Manvelyan "posed an imminent threat of bodily harm" to him, and that he "acted reasonably and used only such force as was reasonably necessary under the circumstances," per PEOPLE and OK! Magazine.
New York Daily News reports Sutherland's attorney says Manvelyan refused to stop the vehicle when asked and that Sutherland felt threatened. Sutherland is asking the judge to dismiss the case entirely, with prejudice, so it cannot be refiled. Both sides have requested a jury trial should the case proceed.
What Vinnie has said about this case
“I mean, they went and they followed up with the Uber driver who dropped her off at Annie's house.”
Vinnie Politan on his show, “We Will Pay ... Savannah Guthrie Will Pay Ransom 📱” (February 8, 2026)
“I mean, they went and they followed up with the Uber driver who dropped her off at Annie's house.”
Vinnie Politan on his show, “We Will Pay ... Savannah Guthrie Will Pay Ransom” (February 8, 2026)
What happens next
No hearing date has been reported. The next formal step is a judge's ruling on Sutherland's motion to dismiss the civil complaint with prejudice. Separately, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has said a potential criminal case remains "under review," and no charging decision has been announced.
How this plays in court
A prosecutor weighing a criminal filing would want the recording Manvelyan's complaint says exists; self-defense claims this specific — chokehold, repeated strikes, who moved first — often turn on exactly that kind of contemporaneous footage rather than on the parties' competing accounts.
The defense will lean on the legal standard for self-defense: force is justified only if it's proportional to a reasonably perceived threat. Expect Sutherland's team to argue a driver who wouldn't stop the car created that threat; expect Manvelyan's side to argue a chokehold and repeated blows to the head go well beyond what was necessary to get a car to stop.
On the civil side, the statute-of-limitations argument could end the case before any jury sees it, since California sets a fixed window to sue over an alleged assault and battery — if Manvelyan's October filing falls outside that window measured from the January incident, a judge could dismiss on that basis alone without ever reaching the self-defense question.
If the case survives that motion, a jury would have to weigh Manvelyan's medical and psychiatric records against Sutherland's claim that he "suffered no injury" and that any distress predates the ride — a dispute that will likely come down to expert testimony on both sides.
- OK Magazine: Kiefer Sutherland Pushes Back Against Uber Driver's Allegations of Assault
- People.com: Kiefer Sutherland Denies Uber Driver’s Claims of Assault, Says He Acted in ‘Self-Defense’
- New York Daily News: Kiefer Sutherland argues self-defense in Uber assault lawsuit