Photo Flap With 'Pal' of Julia's?

By Stephen M. Silverman

Friday August 31, 2001 10:48 AM EDT

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The reputed sweetheart of America's sweetheart, Julia Roberts, is under investigation by the Los Angeles Police after claims made by a paparazzo that the alleged object of Julia's affection threw bricks at the photographer. The LAPD told Reuters on Thursday that no one had been arrested or charged in the assault complaint filed by freelance photographer Francis Griffin after an alleged incident on Tuesday outside the home of Daniel Moder, 32, in the L.A. suburb of Woodland Hills. Moder has been linked romantically to Roberts, 33, by tabloids. (In June, the "Erin Brockovich" Oscar winner's four-year relationship with Benjamin Bratt came to an end.) Griffin reportedly had been waiting across the street to snap a photo of Moder and his family as Moder, a movie cameraman, left home for the funeral of his mother. According to some reports, Roberts had also been expected to attend the funeral. Griffin alleged that Moder threw two bricks over the fence of his home that hit and damaged the photographer's car, police said. Griffin was not injured.