Celebrity Justice
"Top Chef" Josie to Cops -- You Dropped the Ball

Josie Smith-MalaveThe former "Top Chef" wannabe who was the victim of an alleged gay-bashing is livid that cops haven't made charges stick on their suspects -- and now Josie Malave-Smith is sticking it to the popo with a formal complaint.

Malave-Smith, in a statement obtained by TMZ, slams the Nassau County Police Department for their "poor" handling of her case, and says she's "disheartened" by the inability of cops to charge the suspects, whom she claims to have already ID'd in lineups.

Only two people have been apprehended in the attack, and neither has been charged with a hate crime.
Melissa Trimarchi and Elizabeth Burroughs
The openly gay Josie claims that "9 to 12" teenagers were involved in the assault, in which she and her friend were punched and spat on at a Long Island nightclub. Malave-Smith's lawyer, Yetta Kurland, calls the inability to charge a suspect "heartbreaking" and "unthinkable," and wants the Nassau County Prosecutor's Office to conduct "a thorough investigation."

Neither the police nor the DA's office had comment, nor would they provide an update on the case.

UPDATE: Melissa Trimarchi and Elizabeth Burroughs were arrested and charged in connection with the alleged assault. Nassau County Police Department released an update on the case.

Filed under: Celebrity Justice, TV

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(Page 1 of 2) | 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

1. You guys took the live feed off for this.


Send comments to : FLyontheWallTMZ@aol.com


Love to hear from my fans


Have a great day all



Sorry I couldnt be around more today.



Love from Brit and freinds.



Posted at 3:30PM on Nov 16th 2007 by Fly on The Wall

2. Yawn. Thanks for this breaking news bulletin. Please keep us all posted.

Posted at 3:34PM on Nov 16th 2007 by annoyed

3. Exactly where are the other people in the club demanding this people be prosecutred of the cllub owners..i think it s so so wrong what is wrrong with people..

stop the ignorance

Posted at 3:58PM on Nov 16th 2007 by Don Philip

4. Reporting on people like this is a total waste of time.

Who really cares what these people do. They are not celebrities, they are contestants.
You might as well report on someone that is a contestant on Hollywood Squares.

Posted at 4:04PM on Nov 16th 2007 by DirtyDeedsDoneDirtCheap

5. sorry she got bashed and all...but my gosh
she had the MOST annoying voice ever. I was
so happy when she was voted out of the
kitchen.

Posted at 4:05PM on Nov 16th 2007 by ۝۞Geminat.com۝۞

6. Nassau county police officers are known to be homophobic and racist. They don't care.

Posted at 5:00PM on Nov 16th 2007 by itsimportant

7.

I guess this puts her in a box!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted at 5:21PM on Nov 16th 2007 by I dont watch Price is Right anymore.

8. All of you morons who can't think of anything else other than her voice being annoying, or that she "isn't a celebrity" are shallow, stupid idiots, who need to grow up and realize that there are much more important things that go on in life, not just the next idiotic move made by Britney Spears. NONE of that matters. What does matter is that she was the victim of other stupid, bigoted morons, and that the police, who are supposed to, oh, I dunno, PROTECT THE PUBLIC, are apparently doing nothing. I'm glad she's going after those poor excuses for police officers, and I hope that eventually, she gets the justice she deserves. Karma's a huge, nasty, ugly bitch, and those who beat her up, as well as the officers who are apparently doing nothing, will soon find that out. I wish her the best of luck.

Posted at 6:09PM on Nov 16th 2007 by Jeremy Bosco

9. Ha ha that is what she gets. She should know that the Bible goes against homosexuality. 1 Corinthians 6:9,10. When will people learn?I do NOT feel sorry for her. She caused that on herself. That is why the police have done nothing about it.lol

Posted at 8:04PM on Nov 16th 2007 by Peaches

10. i hope her lawsuit goes through and she wins. Those cops were wrong and these crimes will continue to happen if no one makes a point of pursuing it. thank you to TMZ for the extra publicity, i am not LGBT, but am an ally and I will not be spending my tourist dollars in Nassau county because of this.

Posted at 9:18PM on Nov 16th 2007 by smaile

11. First the bible says nothing about homosexuality. Second, it was written by PEOPLE, not GOD. And judging by the morons here, well, I'm just sayin.
Third, Suffolk and Nassau County police are the best and toughest in the nation, hands down. So there is definitely more to this 'story' that has not been reported. If it happened the way she said it would have been taken care of swiftly by the them. And to the moron that said Nassau police are known to be racist and homophobic? REALLY? Have you ever been down south, maybe you should try it, and let us know how you feel about them then.

Posted at 12:30AM on Nov 17th 2007 by cari

12. @#10:
And that's why I can't stand so-called "religious" people, who, like your stupid ass, preach hate and intolerance, all under the guise of "religious belief." Yes, in the Bible, it does say that "He that lieth with a man commits abomination," but that was in ROMANS, not Corinthians, and it was in a different context than what most people believe. It does NOT condemn homosexuality, but rather is the thought of someone in the Bible. And to think that I'm not even technically a Christian. (I'm non-denominational, though I believe in the Bible, in God, and that Jesus was/is our Saviour.)

And, you know, I always thought that one of the bases of religion in general, which would include Christianity, was love and tolerance of our fellow man/woman, no matter what. Doesn't Jesus himself preach that in the New Testament, and includes ALL HUMAN BEINGS, not just straight, white, Christians?

One last thing: Jesus was a Jew, and he practiced Judaeism. Think about that, #10, unless it hurts your brain too much to MAKE SENSE.

Posted at 1:40AM on Nov 17th 2007 by Jeremy Bosco

13. well put bosco

Posted at 1:40AM on Nov 17th 2007 by kgy

14. she had the MOST annoying voice ever

Posted at 8:48AM on Nov 17th 2007 by www.sugar-shoes.co.uk

15. Keep ugly people off this site. If I wanted to see ugly people I would invite my in-laws over. Now the Dallas cheerleaders, that's breaking news.

Posted at 9:05AM on Nov 17th 2007 by HL

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