The white woman accused of making a racially charged 911 call amid a dog-leashing flap in Central Park previously sued a man she claimed was her married ex-lover who lied about his intentions and stole $65,000.
Amy Cooper, the white woman who called police on black birdwatcher Christian Cooper on Monday in the now infamous viral video, filed her lawsuit against Martin Priest in 2015.
But it’s a “false” claim they were lovers, Priest told the Daily News Wednesday.
In an exclusive interview, Priest said Amy developed a “fascination” with him when they worked together at Lehman Brothers and filed her lawsuit against him in 2015 with “fabricated” claims.
“I never had a romantic relationship with her, period. She purposely engineered false allegations against me. And she made up allegations targeting my family’s physical safety,” Priest told The News.
“What I saw on the video, and the speed with which she sprung to the most vulnerable part of Mr. (Christian) Cooper, was unconscionable – and familiar,” he said.
“This person attempted to obliterate my life,” he said.
Amy Cooper is the “Central Park Karen” in the now-viral video who called police on black birdwatcher Christian Cooper Monday morning after he asked her to leash her dog in a section of Central Park known as the Ramble.
She claimed in her fraud lawsuit that Priest, 41, struck up a romantic relationship with her that lasted from 2008 until 2012 while hiding the fact he was “still residing with his wife” as a married couple.
When she found out the wife was pregnant, she ended the relationship “while still holding feeling for him,” her complaint states.
Cooper claimed Priest later asked her for $100,000. Priest managed to talk Cooper out of $65,000 in 2014 before divorcing his wife and moving in with the other girlfriend, the lawsuit states.
Cooper also claims Priest later threatened her life, warning her she should “keep the f—k out of (his) life” or she “would get hurt.”
“The fraud perpetrated against plaintiff by defendant was gross, and involved high moral culpability,” Cooper’s lawsuit says.
The lawsuit was dismissed in March 2018 after all parties failed to appear at back-to-back hearings, online court records show.
After that, Cooper apparently went back to her quiet life as a portfolio manager for financial firm Franklin Templeton. Then she shot to national infamy this week as Central Park “Karen” – the white woman who called police on a black man after he asked her to leash her dog.
In the video that’s been viewed more than 40 million times, Amy approaches Christian and asks him to stop filming her or she’ll call police.
“I’m going to tell them there’s an African American man threatening my life,” she says while dialing and holding her cocker spaniel halfway off the ground by his collar as he thrashes around, trying to break free.
The call sparked outrage as another example of a privileged white person making a false accusation against a black man using an emergency call that could put the black man’s safety in jeopardy.
Attempts to reach Amy Cooper were not successful again Wednesday.
She “sincerely and humbly” apologized for her actions in a statement to NBC News but also complained to CNN that her “entire life is being destroyed right now.”
Meanwhile, she voluntarily surrendered her dog Monday after an outcry over the way she seemingly choked the pooch.
A third dog walker told The News Wednesday that he also worked for Amy and instantly recognized her voice in the video.
“I’ve had 300 to 400 clients, and she’s one of the ones I specifically remember the most,” dog walker Peat Rains, 37, said.
“She wasn’t an awful person, but there was definitely something off,” he said.
“The whole story is really sad,” he told The News. “I’m glad she surrendered her dog. I hope it gets a better home.”
Speaking to The News Tuesday night, Christian Cooper said he believed her actions went to a “racist place,” but he didn’t think she deserved death threats and wasn’t happy she lost her livelihood.
“That action was racist. Does that make her a racist? I can’t answer that. Only she can with what she does going forward,” the former Marvel Comics editor, Harvard graduate and board member of the New York City Audubon Society said
