DJ Steve Aoki sued over fan’s crowd-surfing injury

Steve Aoki just wrapped up a well-received mini-festival in downtown Los Angeles. But his crowd-engaging antics didn’t go over so well with one fan at a 2012 concert.

The deejay and producer, who grew up in Newport Beach and graduated from Newport Harbor High School in 1995, is being sued by a concertgoer after a San Diego show where Aoki jumped into the crowd riding an inflatable pool raft. The plaintiff, Brittany Hickman, claimed in her suit that she became trapped under the raft and broke her neck and ankle.

“I was trapped underneath the pool raft because they threw it out right where I was standing,” Hickman told San Diego’s ABC 10 News. “My friends told me he landed on top of the pool raft, hit me on top of the head and I got knocked over.”

The lawsuit, filed in 2013, is now going to court in San Diego. The suit also names the venue, San Diego’s Hard Rock Hotel, as a defendant.

The suit comes at a promising but difficult time for Aoki, who recently had to cancel a run of shows to have vocal cord surgery. He just released a new album, “Neon Future II,” and his “LAoki” concert on Saturday highlighted his friendly, collaborative relationship with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Representatives of Aoki told The Times, in a statement on Aoki’s behalf, “I would never want anyone to get hurt at any of my shows and feel badly that someone has, but at this time I have been advised by my attorneys to not speak about this, as it’s going to trial. Thank you for your understanding.”

Fans at his downtown L.A. show didn’t go entirely unscathed. Eight fans suffered minor injuries after a concertgoer pulled down a camera boom stand during the show. Three fans went to a hospital, but their injuries were not serious and no one was arrested during the show, according to fire and police reports in L.A. Weekly.

Brown writes for the Los Angeles Times.