Mel Gibson, still facing the music for his curse-ridden tirade against Jews, now faces criminal penalties for his drunken-driving arrest.

Wednesday in Los Angeles, prosecutors charged Gibson with two misdemeanor driving-under-the-influence counts and one vehicle code infraction of driving with an open bottle of liquor in his car.

The embattled actor-director faces up to six months in county jail if convicted of the charges, which specifically include driving under the influence and driving while having a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 or higher, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said.

Prosecutors considered, but decided against, charging Gibson for resisting arrest, D.A. spokeswoman Jane Robison said. During the bust, Gibson was said to refuse to get into a patrol car, running back toward his own car instead. But the dash lasted only "a couple of seconds," and Gibson stopped when ordered, Robison said.

The 50-year-old Oscar-winning star was arrested last Friday, accused of speeding through his Malibu hometown at "more than" 85 mph, with an open bottle of tequila allegedly adding fuel to his Lexus LS 430, per prosecutors. Gibson's blood-alcohol content was 0.12, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.

An arraignment is set for Sept. 28 in Malibu. According to TMZ.com, Gibson has retained a law firm with experience in handling DUI cases for Growing Pains alum Tracey Gold and ex-SNL performer Tracy Morgan.

Released from custody about eight hours after his arrest, Gibson admitted to a "horrific relapse" of alcoholism, and began "an ongoing program of recovery."

Gibson reportedly spent the hours before his arrest at the Malibu restaurant Moonshadows. Pictures of a smiling, posing Gibson, purportedly from his night out on the town, are rife on the Internet.

"He was by himself, and we were just hanging out, talking, laughing about past movies and other things he's working on," Moonshadows patron Kimberly Lesak told Entertainment Tonight.

Lesak and a friend only saw Gibson drinking "expensive [bottled] water," but as closing time came, "most everyone around was concerned about Mel driving out there," she said on ET.

Gibson turned down "several" offers to be driven home by fellow Moonshadows patrons, Lasek's friend Julie Smith told the TV show.

One ride Gibson didn't turn down, according to the Los Angeles Times, was in a patrol car from the sheriff's station to the lot where his Lexus was locked up after the arrest. A Sheriff's Department spokesman told the newspaper the lift wasn't unusual; an unnamed department source told the newspaper it was.

The Sheriff's Department has come under scrutiny for its handling of Gibson, a law-enforcement booster who has donated money to the department and starred in one of its promotional spots.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Office of Independent Review, aimed at monitoring the Sheriff's Department, said it appeared as if deputies went by the book with Gibson.

At the same time, the office confirmed that there were two versions of the Gibson arrest report as charged by the entertainment news site TMZ.com--one that contained Gibson's alleged profane rant, and one that didn't.

TMZ.com posted four pages of the original arrest report on its site late last Friday, starting Gibson's PR nightmare.

But while TMZ.com charged cover-up, the Office of Independent Review said that, not unlike a free ride to the tow lot, two arrest reports--one a summary, and one a "supplemental" paper with more details (and potentially more curse words)--was not unusual. With regard to Gibson, it said all the department's materials, including the "supplemental" ones, were turned over to prosecutors.

Overall, the DUI case seems like an afterthought in a week where Gibson has been more in the news for what the star originally described as "belligerent" behavior--and for what others flatly described as anti-Semitic behavior.

During the arrest, the Passion of the Christ filmmaker reputedly railed against the "f--king Jews" who are "responsible for all the wars in the world," and asked the arresting deputy if he was a Jew, too.

When the alleged rant came to light, a firestorm ensued. A leading Jewish group branded Gibson a bigot, talent agent Ari Emanuel called for a boycott of the Hollywood player and ABC pulled the plug on its planned Gibson-produced Holocaust miniseries. Even the release of Gibson's next movie, Apocalypto, reportedly was in doubt, although Disney, the studio that's due to release it, has so far kept it on its calendar for Dec. 8.

An apology by Gibson--his second in three days--to "everyone in the Jewish community" tamped down the flames on Tuesday, and rated him an invite from a Beverly Hills rabbi to address his congregation on Yom Kippur, aka the Day of Atonement, TMZ.com reported.