A reputed stalker seems to have put a fright into movie mogul Tyler Perry right before Halloween.
Perry filed for a protective order Monday in Fulton County Superior Court against Joshua Sole, 27, of Dunwoody, who was booked into the county jail Friday for criminal trespass at Tyler Perry Studios.
Sole is trying to intimidate him, Perry says in the lawsuit.
Sole had tried to contact Perry Thursday with no success, the lawsuit said. He apparently was so determined to get a face-to-face with the movie makerthat the lawsuit said he disengaged the power to disable the alarms and surveillance equipment at the studio in southwest Atlanta.
Then he climbed into the studio through a suspended ceiling, the lawsuit said.
Atlanta Police said they got a call about an intruder at the Tyler Perry Studio about 6 p.m. Thursday. When officers arrived, the head of security said an “employee Joshua Sole has been acting weird” and had barricaded himself in a room where the administrative offices were located, according to the incident report.
At the time, the security chief was puzzled by how Sole had gained access to the room. It took police more than four hours to get Sole into custody. He was booked into Fulton County jail Friday early Friday morning.
Perry is asking the court to ban Sole from coming within 500 feet of him, and to compel Sole to undergo psychological evaluation and treatment as well as pay Perry at least $100,000. The studio executive will let a jury decide if he deserves more compensation, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit doesn’t say whether Perry fired Sole or in what capacity he was employed.
Perry says he is entitled to the money because of the “discomfort and annoyance caused by the diminished value of peaceful enjoyment” he gets from the property, according to the lawsuit.
It is unclear why Sole wanted to talk to Perry. Attempts to reach Sole were unsuccessful.
The lawsuit contends that Sole harassed Perry by stalking him and “simple assault” — but doesn’t go into details — when he trespassed on the property. It also says Sole has been “stubbornly litigious, or acted in bad faith, or caused the plaintiff unnecessary trouble and expense” without explanation.
Perry also wants $25,000 for attorney fees. His lawyer Richard Gordon declined to comment.
A Fulton County magistrate apparently didn’t consider Sole dangerous. He was released on a $7,000 signature bond — meaning he put up nothing of value — the same day he was jailed.
Perry, however, is trying to remedy that outcome. The lawsuit asks the Superior Court to require Sole to post a bond to ensure his good behavior.
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