A former co-worker of Amy Cooper - the woman filmed calling 911 to report an African-American bird watcher for 'threatening her life' when he asked her to leash her dog in Central Park - has said he wasn't surprised by the former banking exec's erratic conduct, claiming he's 'seen that type of false hysteria before'.
Martin Priest, who first met Cooper while working at investment banking firm Lehman Brothers in 2003, told DailyMail.com how the now 41-year-old allegedly attempted to destroy his life with a series of 'baseless' allegations in a 2015 lawsuit.
Priest said he had been friends with Cooper for a number of years before the suit but says he began to distance himself from her sometime in 2012 when she confessed to having romantic feelings for him that weren't reciprocated.
In the months that followed, Priest says he was routinely 'harassed' and 'stalked' by Cooper. He claims she would often leave him threatening texts and voicemails, in which she menaced that she would hurt him, his family members and even herself if he continued to ignore her.
The purported onslaught culminated in Priest contacting police in Ridgewood, New Jersey, in February 2013 to report her for harassment.
'She became increasingly abusive and unstable,' Priest told DailyMail.com. 'I tried to get away from her as she became more outrageous and threatening with her demands.'
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Martin Priest, who first met Amy Cooper (above) , told DailyMail.com how the now 41-year-old allegedly attempted to destroy his life with a series of 'baseless' allegations in a 2015 lawsuit
Amy Marie Cooper became a household name earlier this week when a now infamous viral video captured her hysterically calling the police on African American bird watcher, Christian Cooper, claiming he was 'threatening her life' after he asked her leash her dog in an area of Central Park known as The Ramble
Priest said he first met Cooper while working at investment banking firm Lehman Brothers in 2003
Priest said his attempts to oust Cooper from his life were made in vain. Just over a year later, on June 8, 2014, he would once again contact police, but this time in Long Island City, dialing 911 to accuse Cooper of attempting to break into his house.
'I caught her in the act,' Priest claimed. 'She lied to my doorman pretending to be my sister and said she needed to get inside.
'I was at home at the time - ignoring her calls - and she knocked on the door, then opened it and tried to walk inside. I got up, slammed the door shut and called the police.'
Priest said that by the time officers arrived, Cooper had fled the scene. 'She texted a lot of crazy stuff afterwards,' Priest recalled.
The NYPD has not yet returned a DailyMail.com request for information on the purported incident. But the department confirmed to the NY Post that Priest had filed for harassment against Cooper on June 8, 2014.
A spokesperson told the outlet she came to his home, repeatedly rang the doorbell and asked to enter the location.
A number of text messages were also observed, police said, but no arrests were made and no charges were filed.
But the ordeal wouldn't end there. Priest said he later received a call from Cooper, who, angered that he had called the cops on her, apparently told him she 'wasn't going to stop until she'd put him in the gutter'.
Priest said he had been friends with Cooper for a number of years before the suit but began to distance himself from her sometime in 2012 when she confessed to having romantic feelings for tour hồ ba bể him that weren't reciprocated
The following year, Cooper filed a lawsuit against Priest - which has since been dismissed - claiming that she had been involved in a romantic relationship with the Wall Street trader from 2008 to 2012, while he was still with his first wife.
In the suit, she claimed she broke up with him when she learned of his marriage, but reconvened with him in October 2013 when that relationship ended.
Cooper accused Priest of stealing $65,000 from her between February and July 2014. She also claims Priest later threatened her life, warning her she should 'keep the f*** out of [his] life' or she 'would get hurt.'
Priest vehemently denies he was ever involved romantically with Cooper and fiercely denies the allegations she made in the lawsuit, calling them 'fabricated' and 'heinous'.
'Those allegations were deeply hurtful to my family. I never had a romantic relationship with her,' Priest told DailyMail.com. 'It was all fabricated in retaliation of our falling out. It was an explicit attempt to damage me and my reputation. She told me on the phone she wasn't going to stop until she put me in the gutter.'
The case was later dismissed when both Cooper and Priest failed to show up for court conferences in January and March 2018, DailyMail.com has confirmed.
'She put all that damaging and false information out there and then just disappeared - derailing my career, hurting my family and reputation,' Priest said.
'It's taken me years to rebuild my life after that,' he continued. 'I was unfairly maligned based upon the allegations that she made - the baseless allegations.
'And so from that point, you know, obviously people would refuse to employ me … because of the voracity of the allegations.'
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In 2015, Cooper filed a lawsuit against Priest - which has since been dismissed - claiming that she had been involved in a romantic relationship with the Wall Street trader from 2008 to 2012, while he was still with his first wife
Amy Marie Cooper became a household name earlier this week when a now infamous viral video captured her hysterically calling the police on African American bird watcher, Christian Cooper, claiming he was 'threatening her life' after he asked her leash her dog in an area of Central Park known as The Ramble.
When Priest was made aware of the footage said he was 'horrified' by Cooper's reaction, but said he wasn't surprised.
'I was just, like, horrified she could do that to someone,' he told DailyMail.com, 'but I wasn't shocked. I have seen that type of false hysteria before.
'I just feel that Mr. Cooper is fortunate to have had the foresight to record her reaction, because I'm certain a worse result would have happened to him otherwise.
'I'm so sorry [for Mr. Cooper],' Priest added. 'You know I empathize a great deal and I'm grateful that he had the foresight to record her. She's just a predator, what she did was predatory.'
Priest also said he wasn't surprised that Cooper was being accused of being racist, as he claims she previously said used a racial slur when he told her he was voting for Barack Obama years earlier.
'The reaction was cultivated, it didn't just happen in one snap moment,' Priest said. 'That's not a spontaneous event. There was a clearly a pre-conditioned, premeditated strategy.'
Amy Cooper has not yet responded to a DailyMail.com request for comment on any of the allegations made by Priest. Messages left at her listed address went unanswered.
In the viral footage - commonly referred to online as Central Park Karen - Amy Cooper told birdwatcher Christian Cooper (above) she was going to call the cops, telling them 'an African American man is threatening her life' after he calmly asked her to leash her dog
Martin Priest, who first met Cooper while working at investment banking firm Lehman Brothers in 2003, told DailyMail.com how the now 41-year-old allegedly attempted to destroy his life with a series of 'baseless' allegations in a 2015 lawsuit.
Priest said he had been friends with Cooper for a number of years before the suit but says he began to distance himself from her sometime in 2012 when she confessed to having romantic feelings for him that weren't reciprocated.
In the months that followed, Priest says he was routinely 'harassed' and 'stalked' by Cooper. He claims she would often leave him threatening texts and voicemails, in which she menaced that she would hurt him, his family members and even herself if he continued to ignore her.
The purported onslaught culminated in Priest contacting police in Ridgewood, New Jersey, in February 2013 to report her for harassment.
'She became increasingly abusive and unstable,' Priest told DailyMail.com. 'I tried to get away from her as she became more outrageous and threatening with her demands.'
Scroll down for video
Martin Priest, who first met Amy Cooper (above) , told DailyMail.com how the now 41-year-old allegedly attempted to destroy his life with a series of 'baseless' allegations in a 2015 lawsuit
Amy Marie Cooper became a household name earlier this week when a now infamous viral video captured her hysterically calling the police on African American bird watcher, Christian Cooper, claiming he was 'threatening her life' after he asked her leash her dog in an area of Central Park known as The Ramble
Priest said he first met Cooper while working at investment banking firm Lehman Brothers in 2003
Priest said his attempts to oust Cooper from his life were made in vain. Just over a year later, on June 8, 2014, he would once again contact police, but this time in Long Island City, dialing 911 to accuse Cooper of attempting to break into his house.
'I caught her in the act,' Priest claimed. 'She lied to my doorman pretending to be my sister and said she needed to get inside.
'I was at home at the time - ignoring her calls - and she knocked on the door, then opened it and tried to walk inside. I got up, slammed the door shut and called the police.'
Priest said that by the time officers arrived, Cooper had fled the scene. 'She texted a lot of crazy stuff afterwards,' Priest recalled.
The NYPD has not yet returned a DailyMail.com request for information on the purported incident. But the department confirmed to the NY Post that Priest had filed for harassment against Cooper on June 8, 2014.
A spokesperson told the outlet she came to his home, repeatedly rang the doorbell and asked to enter the location.
A number of text messages were also observed, police said, but no arrests were made and no charges were filed.
But the ordeal wouldn't end there. Priest said he later received a call from Cooper, who, angered that he had called the cops on her, apparently told him she 'wasn't going to stop until she'd put him in the gutter'.
Priest said he had been friends with Cooper for a number of years before the suit but began to distance himself from her sometime in 2012 when she confessed to having romantic feelings for tour hồ ba bể him that weren't reciprocated
The following year, Cooper filed a lawsuit against Priest - which has since been dismissed - claiming that she had been involved in a romantic relationship with the Wall Street trader from 2008 to 2012, while he was still with his first wife.
In the suit, she claimed she broke up with him when she learned of his marriage, but reconvened with him in October 2013 when that relationship ended.
Cooper accused Priest of stealing $65,000 from her between February and July 2014. She also claims Priest later threatened her life, warning her she should 'keep the f*** out of [his] life' or she 'would get hurt.'
Priest vehemently denies he was ever involved romantically with Cooper and fiercely denies the allegations she made in the lawsuit, calling them 'fabricated' and 'heinous'.
'Those allegations were deeply hurtful to my family. I never had a romantic relationship with her,' Priest told DailyMail.com. 'It was all fabricated in retaliation of our falling out. It was an explicit attempt to damage me and my reputation. She told me on the phone she wasn't going to stop until she put me in the gutter.'
The case was later dismissed when both Cooper and Priest failed to show up for court conferences in January and March 2018, DailyMail.com has confirmed.
'She put all that damaging and false information out there and then just disappeared - derailing my career, hurting my family and reputation,' Priest said.
'It's taken me years to rebuild my life after that,' he continued. 'I was unfairly maligned based upon the allegations that she made - the baseless allegations.
'And so from that point, you know, obviously people would refuse to employ me … because of the voracity of the allegations.'
RELATED ARTICLES
Previous
1
Next
White investment banker Amy Cooper, 41, is FIRED after... Victim of Central Park Karen who called police claiming 'an...
Share this article
Share
In 2015, Cooper filed a lawsuit against Priest - which has since been dismissed - claiming that she had been involved in a romantic relationship with the Wall Street trader from 2008 to 2012, while he was still with his first wife
Amy Marie Cooper became a household name earlier this week when a now infamous viral video captured her hysterically calling the police on African American bird watcher, Christian Cooper, claiming he was 'threatening her life' after he asked her leash her dog in an area of Central Park known as The Ramble.
When Priest was made aware of the footage said he was 'horrified' by Cooper's reaction, but said he wasn't surprised.
'I was just, like, horrified she could do that to someone,' he told DailyMail.com, 'but I wasn't shocked. I have seen that type of false hysteria before.
'I just feel that Mr. Cooper is fortunate to have had the foresight to record her reaction, because I'm certain a worse result would have happened to him otherwise.
'I'm so sorry [for Mr. Cooper],' Priest added. 'You know I empathize a great deal and I'm grateful that he had the foresight to record her. She's just a predator, what she did was predatory.'
Priest also said he wasn't surprised that Cooper was being accused of being racist, as he claims she previously said used a racial slur when he told her he was voting for Barack Obama years earlier.
'The reaction was cultivated, it didn't just happen in one snap moment,' Priest said. 'That's not a spontaneous event. There was a clearly a pre-conditioned, premeditated strategy.'
Amy Cooper has not yet responded to a DailyMail.com request for comment on any of the allegations made by Priest. Messages left at her listed address went unanswered.
In the viral footage - commonly referred to online as Central Park Karen - Amy Cooper told birdwatcher Christian Cooper (above) she was going to call the cops, telling them 'an African American man is threatening her life' after he calmly asked her to leash her dog
