Another woman has come forward alleging troubling behavior from Martin Phipps and how the prominent San Antonio attorney treats women. Phipps is one of the lawyers representing Bexar County in its lawsuit against opioid manufacturers.
Lana Cop — a former employee at Paramour, the rooftop bar Phipps owns near downtown — posted multiple videos on the social media platform TikTok Wednesday detailing her relationship with Phipps. In the videos Cop said the two dated for a short time.
Cop posted the videos in response to news of Phipps’ recent arrest for telephone harassment. The image of Phipps’ mugshot and the headlines from local news posts about his arrest can be seen as the backdrop for her videos.
WATCH THE TIKTOK HERE
TPR has confirmed from former employees that Cop worked at Paramour and went on dates with Phipps in 2020.
In the videos, 22-year-old Cop said Phipps asked her to use the club drug MDMA, also known as “Molly,” with him.
She also accused him of sending long aggressive text messages when the two split.
“I don’t know if you guys are familiar with lawyers but he really thought this out. They were long and they were put together and they were so, so, so evil,” said Cop in the public video.
Cop described texts from Phipps as “extremely aggressive” but she did not quote from the text messages in her videos. TPR has not seen the texts and cannot confirm their content.
Cop’s allegations of drug use and of aggressive text messages are similar to those made to police by Phipps’ ex-wife Brenda Vega.
He was arrested for telephone harassment of Vega on Monday. The warrant said that Phipps had sent 40 text messages that were “reasonably likely to demean, harass, alarm, and torment the Victim.”
His lawyers denied the earlier charges of drug use and harassing texts, saying Phipps is innocent. His lawyers didn't comment on Cop's comments.
“We will not try our case in the media. No further comment,” said Michael McCrum, Phipps’ attorney, in an email.
Cop alludes to a non-disclosure agreement she signed before taking the job at the bar, which sits on top of Phipps' law firm.
A chyron on the video said she expects to be forced to delete the videos when Phipps “gets out of jail.” Phipps was in police custody for about five hours, released on a $3,000 bond Monday evening.
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