METRO VANCOUVER - A Richmond paparazzo with a history of altercations with celebrities has turned himself in to police after a parking lot kerfuffle with actor Ryan Reynolds last week.

Police say Reynolds, who is back in his hometown to film the superhero movie Deadpool, was struck by a vehicle in the underground parking lot of the luxury Shangri-La Hotel just before 7 p.m. on Friday. He was not injured in the incident.

“I did turn myself in last night,” said photographer Rik Fedyck, who would not say much about the incident when reached by The Vancouver Sun Monday.

“I am not going to talk about anything until their case falls on its face,” he said.

Police said earlier that day they had arrested a 52-year-old Richmond man and had recommended a charge of criminal intimidation in relation to “an incident between a photographer and local actor.” Investigators allege the photographer — who they did not name — approached Reynolds, then “during the confrontation, the driver struck the victim with his car as he fled the lot.”

Police say they are recommending the charge after speaking with witnesses and reviewing security footage. Intimidation carries a sentence of up to five years in prison.

Fedyck told The Sun the “charges have gone from hit-and-run, to three times intimidation to one time intimidation and now I am hearing it’s mischief.”

He also said a statement issued by a Reynolds publicist shortly after the incident was “100-per-cent false.”

Earlier, a spokesman for Reynolds issued a statement to ET Canada, confirming the incident and indicating that Reynolds is fine.

“While walking, Ryan was struck by a paparazzi driving a car through an underground parking garage,” says the rep. “The man fled the scene. Ryan is OK.”

In 2006, Fedyck said he was attacked at River Rock Casino by actress Denise Richards after telling her, “I know you’re a home-wrecker and you don’t know how to keep your man.”

He alleged Richards lunged at, attacked and pushed him, then grabbed computers belonging to him and his partner and threw them over a third-floor balcony. The laptops struck a pair of elderly women below, according to police.

Fedyck’s insult came after Richards asked him, “Are you f — cking paparazzi?”

He told The Sun in 2010 he prefers to be called a “celebrity photographer,” and distances himself from the “L.A. rats.”

“I don’t do things the same way as the paparazzi do,” Fedyck says. “I don’t travel in packs. I try to be respectful when I shoot celebrities or anybody else. I try to shoot with a long lens and you’ll very rarely see me flash anybody because I use faster lenses. I don’t get in people’s faces, although I could if I wanted to.”

In 2008, Fedyck claimed a bodyguard working for actress Jennifer Aniston had insulted his girlfriend, trying to rile him up.

He alleged the bodyguard uttered racial slurs against her, then said, “Aren’t you man enough to stand up for your girlfriend? Go on, make my day, hit me.”

Aniston was in Vancouver filming a movie with the working title Traveling, later changed to Love Happens.

mrobinson@vancouversun.com

With files from Joanne Lee-Young, Dean Broughton, Scott Brown and Postmedia.