Justin Bieber Photog Claimed Singer Had Been Smoking Weed 
 
 Photog Killed in Accident Claimed Justin Bieber Had Been Smoking Marijuana 
 
 EXCLUSIVE 
 
 The photog who was killed taking pics of's car made a call less than an hour before he died, telling someone he was on a big story -- because he claimed he saw Justin smoking marijuana while driving.A source connected with the photo agency for whomdid freelance work tells TMZ ... Chris called him at 5:16 Tuesday afternoon. Chris said, "Man, you won't believe my luck. It's pretty dead in L.A.. Everybody thinks Justin and Selena are in Mexico, but they're not."Chris -- who worked exclusively on the Bieber detail -- said he had spotted Justin's car earlier in the day at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills and also saw Selena Gomez's car there.Chris went on ... claiming he saw Justin earlier in the day smoking what he believed was marijuana from a pipe while driving the Ferrari.Our source says Chris told him he was following Justin back to the Four Seasons and was continuing to pursue what he believed was a big story.The source says after 20 minutes, Chris abruptly said the Ferrari was pulling out of the hotel parking lot and he needed to hang up and follow it. Apparently he had no idea Justin was NOT in the car.Our source -- who as we said is connected to the photo agency -- believes Chris was probably "overzealous" at the traffic stop because he believed he was on the cusp of an enormous scoop.Justin's rep tells TMZ, "It's really sad that people are trying to push a story without the facts so soon after this tragic accident. Justin was not present or involved in this incident and the focus should remain on honoring the memory of the victim."The rep did not directly respond to the marijuana allegation. 

 Los Angeles (CNN) -- Paparazzi have had nasty run-ins with pop star Justin Bieber, including a high-speed chase in July that prompted a city councilman to predict that such an encounter could end tragically. 
 
 It happened Tuesday. 
 
 A photographer who thought he spied Bieber sitting in his parked white Ferrari was struck and killed by oncoming traffic as he walked across a Los Angeles street to get back to his car after snapping photos. 
 
 An opportune picture of the 18-year-old celebrity can rake in hard currency, but Bieber was not in the car at the time of the New Year's Day incident. 
 
 California Highway Patrol officers had pulled over Bieber's vehicle Tuesday evening near an off-ramp of Interstate 405. 
 
 The photographer, 29, spotted the sports car stopped on Sepulveda Boulevard, parked his own vehicle across the street, crossed to get closer to Bieber's car and took photos of its occupants, Los Angeles police said. 
 
 Officers told the man twice to return to his car, CNN affiliate KTLA reported. 
 
 An SUV struck the paparazzo as he was returning across the street to leave, Stoughton said. 
 
 Authorities have not released his name. Police said in a statement that the driver of the SUV, a 69-year-old woman, stayed at the scene. There was no evidence that the woman was driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, authorities said. 
 
 "While I was not present nor directly involved with this tragic accident, my thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim," Bieber said in a statement. 
 
 "Hopefully this tragedy will finally inspire meaningful legislation and whatever other necessary steps to protect the lives and safety of celebrities, police officers, innocent public bystanders, and the photographers themselves." 
 
 In July, a group of paparazzi chased Bieber in separate vehicles down a freeway, whizzing past a Los Angeles city councilman, Dennis Zine, a reservist on the LAPD. 
 
 "He was coming up behind me, making abrupt lane changes, not giving signals, cutting off cars," Zine said. The photographers were keeping up with Bieber, thick on his heels. 
 
 Zine said he expected to see a crash and feared someone could die. 
 
 The lawmaker, known for supporting tough measures against obnoxious paparazzi behavior, alerted the highway patrol, who ticketed Bieber for speeding in his Fisker Karma, an expensive plug-in hybrid sports car. 
 
 A photographer was slapped with criminal charges, including reckless driving. 
 
 CNN's Denise Quan contributed to this report
– A celebrity-chasing photog died in a failed attempt to get a shot of Justin Bieber in Los Angeles yesterday, after he spied the Bieb's Ferrari at a traffic stop and crossed a freeway to take photos. Police told the man to return to his car and he was struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle as he crossed back across the street, CNN reports. Bieber wasn't in his vehicle at the time. Less than an hour before the accident, the photographer called someone connected to his photo agency and said he had spotted Bieber smoking marijuana while driving the Ferrari that day, TMZ reports. The person who received the call tells TMZ the photog didn't realize Bieber was no longer in the car later that day, and was probably acting "overzealous" because he anticipated a huge scoop. Bieber released a statement earlier today: "While I was not present nor directly involved with this tragic accident, my thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim. Hopefully this tragedy will finally inspire meaningful legislation and whatever other necessary steps to protect the lives and safety of celebrities, police officers, innocent public bystanders, and the photographers themselves." Last summer, Bieber was ticketed for speeding while trying to avoid pursuing paparazzi.