TwitterLet's face it: Charlie Sheen and the cops just don't mix. Even when he's not in trouble.
The internal affairs unit of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department is investigating how Sheen ended up with a police escort worthy of a head of state—complete with blasting sirens, flashing lights and street closings—from Dulles International Airport to the downtown venue where he was scheduled to perform on Tuesday.
Maybe Congress should rename it the "District of Charlie."
"The incident was brought to our attention and MPD Internal Affairs is investigating the incident," police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump tells E! News.
Chief of Police Cathy Lanier said later that several aspects of Sheen's escort were not within policy.
"It is not our practice to utilize emergency equipment for non emergency situations," Lanier stated. Furthermore, "Members of the MPD generally do not operate in another jurisdiction without the assistance of a partner agency" and "it appears our protocols surrounding the approval of reimbursable details were not followed in this instance."
Then there's the whole Obama thing.
"Additionally," Lanier continued, "our written policy states that Police vehicles shall be used for escort duty only for the purpose of providing security for the President and Vice President of the United States and such visiting heads of state or their representative who may require extra-ordinary protective measures because of the political conditions which exist at that time, and the Mayor of the District of Columbia. There is a provision that allows for requests to be reviewed on a case by case basis, but the submission must go through the chain of command and be approved by an Assistant Chief."
And while Sheen probably thinks he qualifies for "extraordinary protective measures," there are probably a few cops—not to mention a few tax payers—who will disagree.
After spending the early part of the day in an L.A. courtroom dealing with his custody mess, the ex-Two and a Half Men star took a private plane back to D.C. but was running an hour late for his Violent Torpedo of Truth Tour.
And for some reason he wound up with the VIP escort—which, in typical winning warlock fashion, he took to Twitter to brag about.
"In car with police escort in front and rear! Driving like someone's about to deliver a baby! Cop car lights #Spinning!" Charlie tweeted along with a photo of his SUV's speedometer hitting 80 mph as it barreled down the highway. (He's since removed the tweet and image from his feed.)
The probe was prompted by City Councilman Phil Mendolson who complained to D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier on Thursday. Lanier was said to be unaware of Sheen's special treatment.
Calls to Sheen's rep were not immediately returned. Apparently Team Sheen has more important things to focus on—the tiger-blooded one has just launched his own mobile application called "The Masheen," which is offering users 17 short videos and a fortune teller among other features ("the mind of Charlie Sheen in your pocket," as his website proudly proclaims).
The app, which was approved last week by Apple, is now available on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad via iTunes for $2.99.
No word if it includes a police escort.
(Originally published April 22, 2011, at 10:15 a.m. PT)