Baltimore police now say that last week's threat against the "Lady in the Lake" production crew came from a local vendor upset about lost business.
Keith Brown, 43, of Pikesville, allegedly threatened a member of the production team and tried to extort them of $50,000 because he said he hadn't been compensated for lost business, since he couldn't run his clothing business while they were filming. (Brown was arrested on drug charges Aug. 29.)
Filming of the Apple TV+ series "Lady in the Lake," which has been going on for months around Baltimore, was originally forced to postpone after producers were threatened with extortion downtown Friday afternoon.
Baltimore police originally said:
"On August 26, 2022, at approximately 4p.m., on the scene of a movie shoot in the 200 block of Park Avenue, the locals threatened the producers of the movie that if they didn’t cease production, they would come back later this evening and shoot someone.
The locals then told the producers that if they paid them, they would allow the production to continue. I don’t know what dollar amount was proposed.
The leaders of the production decided to err on the side of caution and reschedule the shoot after they found another location."
"Lady in the Lake," which features Natalie Portman and Baltimore native Moses Ingram, has been filming around town since the spring. Production had mostly been happening in the Hamilton area , but recently was seen at Hollins Market downtown.
On Tuesday, police released the original report on the incident. It says a "Lady in the Lake" location manager first told police that two men with duffel bags demanded that the crew pay $50,000 to film at the location. When asked if he saw a gun, the victim said he saw one, but then said it was one of the drivers that saw the gun. The victim said he only saw a large amount of marijuana "10 hours ago."
On Monday, state Del. Kathy Szeliga, who represents parts of Harford and Baltimore counties, said in a tweet:
"Crime update from W Bmore. Threatened at gun point and demanding $50k to continue filming or they will shoot the place up!Mafia style extortion threats made to filmmakers as they attempt to make a new TV series in the City."
Photos posted to Facebook showed Park Avenue transformed into an old-fashioned street for the film shoot.
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