Man Says Long Beach Councilmember Pushed Him: Report

LONG BEACH, CA — A man accused Councilmember Cindy Allen of pushing him outside of a campaign event in Downtown Long Beach Friday, the Long Beach Police Department told the Long Beach Post.

The event was a mayoral campaign event hosted by Rex Richardson at the Providence Gardens senior living apartment complex. LBPD spokesperson Allison Gallagher told the Post that officers were dispatched to the area around 11:41 a.m. after they received a report in which a man claimed a woman pushed him.

Allen released a statement on Instagram on Friday denying making any physical contact with the man. In the statement, Allen said a man who "harasses me online and who attends the council meetings to berate and yell," approached her and a staff member and put his phone in her face.

"It is beyond disturbing that members of the public are fabricating and circulating information that is unequivocally false," Allen said in the statement. "As elected officials our jobs are hard, we don't need making people making up false allegations. Making a false police report is a crime."

The man was transported to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, LBPD said. The man's identity and the extent of his injuries were not shared. Officers interviewed witnesses and the incident is being investigated as a battery, police told the Post.

Read more from The Long Beach Post: Man says he was pushed by Long Beach councilmember near Downtown, police say