Man sues Belushi over Land Rover sale
PAWTUCKET, R.I. - Comedian Jim Belushi is being sued by the 78-year-old father of his former driver, who accuses him of selling a used 2001 Land Rover that turned out to be a lemon.
Ted Lewandowski worked as Belushi’s driver when the star was filming the Walt Disney movie "Underdog" in Providence. He claims the SUV needed more than $6,000 in repairs — and he demands that Belushi pay.
"The claim is false and frivolous," Belushi’s Los Angeles attorney, Brian Wolf, said Thursday. "The exact claim for the same repairs to the same vehicle has already been adjudicated."
Wolf said a Los Angeles small claims court found in February that Belushi did not owe Lewandowski any money, and the new action amounts to harassment of his client.
While driving Belushi last year, Lewandowski mentioned that he wanted to buy a car for his father Jan Lewandowski, said Steve VanderPyl, a private investigator for Lewandowski. He said Belushi suggested his old Land Rover and referred Lewandowski to a listing for the vehicle posted on the Internet auction site eBay.
"He told him it was in perfect mechanical condition," VanderPyl told The Associated Press. "He thought being a movie star, the guy’s not going to lie to me about it."
He said Lewandowski sent an $11,500 payment to Belushi’s representatives in California, then flew to the West Coast to retrieve the SUV.
On the way home, the Land Rover broke down in Arizona because it needed a new fuel pump, VanderPyl said, and still requires a new water pump, a radiator and other work totaling about $5,000
