No charges for Simmons over LA mall attack

LOS ANGELES (AP):

Prosecutors will not charge Kiss rocker Gene Simmons over an alleged attack on a couple at an upscale outdoor mall, while a new, separate civil lawsuit claims the musician sexually assaulted a make-up artist.

The district attorney's office stated in documents Wednesday that there was not enough evidence the 60-year-old musician threatened Nathan Marlowe and his wife Cynthia Manzo at The Grove mall in Los Angeles last December.

Marlowe had said the musician choked the couple and took their video camera after they started filming the star, while Simmons said Marlowe shoved the camera in his face and that he feared for his family's safety.

Simmons' attorney Barry Mallen called the decision "completely expected". Calls to the couple's attorney, Matthew Nezhad, were not immediately returned.

A civil lawsuit filed in December by Marlowe and Manzo against Simmons is still pending. The couple is seeking more than US$25,000 in damages for claims of assault, battery and emotional distress, including damage to their sex life.

Civil lawsuit

Simmons also faces a separate civil lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in Los Angeles by make-up artist Victoria Jackson on allegations of sexual assault and battery. She is seeking unspecified damages.

In court documents, Jackson claimed she was working for ESPN Sports Center on November 24, 2009, when she met Simmons wearing his Kiss costume. She alleged that Simmons said "in a lecherous and inappropriate manner, 'I like you'."

Jackson claimed Simmons then shook her hand, grabbed and hugged her, with his costume's spiked chest plate jabbing her in the face.

After she resisted his embrace, Jackson claimed, Simmons started grinding into her, then finally released her.

Jackson described the alleged incident as "degrading, shocking and humiliating". A phone message left for her attorney, Richard Kolber, was not immediately returned.