Lindsay Lohan took her offscreen drama to a new level Saturday, as the actress was hospitalized following what police say was a booze-fueled car wreck.
The 20-year-old was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence, according to Lt. Mitch McCann of the Beverly Hills Police Department.
The charge is a misdemeanor, but McCann said Lohan, just three months out of rehab, could be facing additional felony counts after officers recovered "usable amount" of "additional contraband" preliminarily identified as cocaine. McCann said Lohan was not carrying the substance, but declined to say where it was found.
A photographer for the X17 photo agency who had been shadowing Lohan said that the actress and two unidentified friends had been chauffeured by her bodyguard for a night of club hopping until roughly 5 a.m. At that point, per X17, she returned to her home to retrieve her car.
A half hour later, Lohan was speeding down Sunset and lost control of her Mercedes SL-65 convertible, plowing over the curb and into some trees, McCann said at an afternoon press conference.
By the time police arrived on scene, Lohan was gone and the smashed car had been moved to a nearby condo complex, McCann said.
Officers eventually tracked the actress down at Century City Doctors Hospital. McCann says Lohan was arrested at the hospital but not taken into custody so she could receive treatment for non-life-threatening injuries to her upper chest area. She had been driven to the hospital by a friend.
McCann said he was not aware if Lohan had been discharged. Calls to the actress' publicist were not immediately returned.
Lohan's two passengers were not hurt in the mishap, police said, but Lohan's Mercedes wasn’t so lucky. McCann said the car "sustained major collision damage." It was towed at 6:30 and remains in impound.
The case will be turned over to the Los Angeles District Attorney, who will ultimately decide what charges to file. Lohan is scheduled to appear at the Beverly Hills Courthouse on Aug. 24.
The actress, who turns 21 July 2, has admitted to attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for more than a year.
She has remained dogged by allegations of wild behavior despite a 30-day stint in the posh Wonderland treatment center that ended in mid February. At the time, publicist Leslie Sloane Zelnik said Lohan would "continue the program as an outpatient," without elaborating on the type of treatment.
Lohan, however, has repeatedly downplayed having any sobriety issues.
"I don't know that I'm necessarily an addict," Lohan told Allure after she checked out of rehab. Instead, she said she had taken a suggestion from her therapist to "take care of my personal health."
Of late, Lohan has been preparing to record her third solo album and promoting the female-bonding flick Georgia Rule with costars Felicity Huffman and Jane Fonda.
During the film’s shoot last summer, producer James G. Robinson penned a letter to the actress, saying she was acting like a "spoiled child" and blaming "ongoing all-night heavy partying" for her "so-called exhaustion," which was the reason she gave for her sporadic tardiness and absences from the Georgia Rule set. Director Garry Marshall has since admitted he had asked Robinson to write the note.
Just days before being lambasted by the studio honcho, Lohan was treated at an L.A. hospital for heat exhaustion, after becoming dehydrated during filming.
The bad luck started compounding soon after that. In September, Lohan slipped and broke her wrist during a New York Fashion Week event, and in November, she was involved in another car crash when she was rear-ended by a paparazzo.
Lohan's driving woes are well documented. She has been involved in a handful of minor accidents over the past few years, usually while attempting to elude paparazzi.
Earlier this month, a New York shutterbug sued Lohan and her mom, Dina, for "negligent, careless and reckless" behavior for allegedly hitting him with their car in March.