This may be one of the pricier packs of batteries ever to pass through Los Angeles International Airport.
Bai Ling was charged Monday with one count of petty theft for allegedly stealing two magazines and a package of AAA batteries from a gift shop at LAX on Feb. 13, shortly before she was scheduled to board a flight to New Mexico.
If convicted, the actress and frequent partygoer could face a maximum $250 fine, per L.A. City Attorney's Office spokesman Frank Mateljan. She is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at the Airport Branch Courthouse, where she can either contest the charge or pay up.
Ling, 37, was detained at about 4:30 p.m. by a shop employee, who then summoned authorities, after supposedly trying to walk out of the story with $16 in unpaid merchandise. The Lost guest star was booked for misdemeanor shoplifting at the LAPD's nearby Pacific Station and released on her own recognizance.
Ling told E! News the following day—Valentine's Day—that she hadn't been herself when the incident occurred because she was dealing with "the huge problem of breaking up."
"Wrong boyfriend," she said.
Pal Damon Elliott acknowledged that Ling was going through "relationship issues."
"She was kind of in a mentally unstable state of mind yesterday," he told E! News. "She had some relationship issues going on. She wasn't in the right frame of mind...She was very spacey, and that was pretty much what happened. She was distracted and had a lot of things going on."