Yasmine Bleeth Facing Drug Charges

Former Baywatch babe detained after cops find what they believe is cocaine in her purse

By Marcus Errico Sep 14, 2001 10:00 PMTags
Yasmine Bleeth may be trading in her Baywatch bikini for a jail-house jumpsuit.

The actress is facing possible drug charges after allegedly being caught with cocaine in her pocketbook following a car accident, Detroit-area police say.

Bleeth, 33, who did a stint in rehab last year for undisclosed substance abuse, spent Wednesday night in jail at the Romulus, Michigan, Police Department.

The former Baywatch pinup, who recently starred in Nash Bridges and the short-lived night-time soap Titans, was involved in a one-car accident at about 10:10 p.m., says Commander David Early. Bleeth and a friend were driving on Interstate 94, heading to the nearby Detroit Metropolitan Airport, when her car left the highway and wound up on the median.

Neither Bleeth nor her male passenger was injured in the crash.

The responding officers said Bleeth acted intoxicated but, according to Early, she didn't appear to be under the influence of alcohol. "They conducted field sobriety tests, which she did not pass and they decided to take her into custody," Early says.

The cops searched Bleeth's purse and found four syringes containing what police suspect was a liquid form of cocaine, as well as a small plastic bag containing cocaine residue, Early says.

Per local procedure, the police obtained a search warrant to draw a blood sample, which was done at a hospital and sent to a police lab along with the syringes and baggie.

Early says no charges will be filed until the lab tests come back, which could take "a minimum of a few weeks."

If the lab tests come back positive, Bleeth could be charged with misdemeanor DUI, and felongy drug posession, which carries a one- to seven-year prison sentence.

Early declined to identify Bleeth's male companion, only to say the two were in town visiting his relatives and were on their way to the airport for a flight back to Los Angeles, where she lives. (Bleeth is reportedly dating a Detroit nightclub owner.) Her companion doesn't face any charges.

Bleeth--who was supposed to fly out of Detroit on Tuesday, but was stranded after the hijack attacks--was released on her own recognizance Thursday morning.

Calls to her publicist Friday were not immediately returned.