Crime, Jonathan Lee Riches, Pro Se Litigants

Who Is The Man Behind The Kalamazoo Spree-Shooter's $10 Million Uber Lawsuit Hoax?

Nobody seems to know who could have possibly filed the suit -- except for us here at Above the Law.

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Jason Dalton

Jason Dalton

Last week, members of the public shook their heads in disbelief as they read headline after headline about the jaw-dropping $10 million suit that Jason Dalton, the alleged Kalamazoo spree shooter, had purportedly filed against ride-sharing company Uber. Dalton, a former Uber driver, stands accused of killing six people and wounding two others between passenger pickups on February 20 in the western Michigan town.

News of Dalton’s supposed suit came days after police revealed that during an interrogation, Dalton claimed that he was possessed by the devil through his use of the Uber app. In the multimillion-dollar suit, Dalton alleged that Uber had subjected him to a “hostile work environment” and that working for the company had ruined his life. Take a look at the handwritten filing that the Eastern District of Michigan received last week:

It was later discovered that the filing was a hoax, and just about every news agency in the country fell for it, including the Associated Press. According to Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas, Dalton “didn’t send it, didn’t authorize it, and didn’t know who did, either.” Dalton’s attorney also “had no knowledge of it.” Nobody seems to know who could have possibly filed the suit — except for us here at Above the Law.

We’ve been in touch with Jonathan Lee Riches, a man who’s filed thousands upon thousands of lawsuits in his lifetime, and he says that he was the one who filed the $10 million suit using the suspected Kalamazoo shooter’s name. Why in the world did he do such a thing? The Patrick Ewing of Suing says he filed this suit in the name of justice.

Riches explains himself in short video, where he encourages others to file similar suits:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUZYN0RqZaM

Here’s a transcription of the relevant part of Riches’s video:

I, Jonathan Lee Riches, wrote the lawsuit. I drafted it up, and it got sent to the courts, and I’ll tell you the reason why I’ve done it. This jerk here ruined a lot of families, he hurt a lot of people. Do you understand? And now he’s sitting in jail at the taxpayers’ expense, sitting comfortably in solitary confinement. He’s sitting there, eating commissary, and just sitting nonchalantly. Well, it ain’t happening. I’m speaking up on behalf of all the victims of this tragedy.

My intent was to file the lawsuit, not necessarily to fool the media, but I wanted to create a lot of hostility towards Dalton. He’s sitting in prison comfortably. You know, if you file a bunch of lawsuits in an individual’s name, the clerk of court and the court will pretty much authorize the prison to take $350 out of that person’s account because they have to pay the filing fees. This is in reference to the 1996 Prison Litigation Reform Act. So what I’m trying to say is, the more lawsuits that get filed in Jason Dalton’s name, the clerk of court and the courts will send a notice to the jail facility or the prison wherever the individual is at authorizing them to take $350 out of the prisoner’s trust account. Therefore, Jason Dalton can’t get no commissary because his account will be frozen because he’ll be so in debt to the courts. …

I hope people all around the country file suits in his name. …

I’ll continue to file suits in this man’s name, and I strongly encourage other people to do it.

Prosecutors, if you’re thinking of filing charges against Jonathan Lee Riches under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 for filing suit in Jason Dalton’s name, then you may want to think again. This man has gotten lawsuit trolling down to an art. JLR says he didn’t sign the lawsuit, he merely drafted it: “Just because I draft a suit, doesn’t mean I signed it — or sent it.”

Expect to see more work from America’s favorite serial litigant, Jonathan Lee Riches (aka “Johnny Sue-Nami”), in a federal courthouse near you sometime soon.

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