Britney Hit with Charges, for the First Time
Autumn doesn't officially begin until Sunday, but Britney Spears' fall has already begun.
The beleaguered pop star was charged Friday with two misdemeanor counts, hit-and-run causing property damage and driving without a valid California license, stemming from a minor Aug. 6 smashup in a Los Angeles-area parking lot, the L.A. City Attorney's Office confirmed to E! News. (View the criminal complaint.)
Each charge carries a maximum sentence of a $1,000 fine and six months in jail, not the place you want to be when you're trying to prove that you're not all washed-up—as an entertainer and as a mother—at 25.
Arraignment has been set for Oct. 10 in Van Nuys Superior Court. Because the charges are misdemeanors, Spears will not be required to attend. The City Attorney's Office mailed a letter to her Friday informing her of the charges.
The incident that led to the charges occurred Aug. 6 outside of a vitamin store in Studio City, California. Spears was photographed dinging a silver Mercedes-Benz with her black Mercedes and then getting out of the car to check the extent of the damage, which was seemingly negligible.
After telling reporters that she hoped Spears would do the right thing and take responsibility for her actions, Kim Robard-Rifkin, the disgruntled Mercedes driver, filed a police report on Aug. 9.
"It was simply like my car didn't matter to her, my inconvenience didn't matter to her," Robard-Rifkin told CelebTV.com at the time.
Earlier Friday, E! News obtained a photograph of a teary-eyed Spears heading into the office of her recently acquired attorney, Sorrell Trope, for a consultation. She parted ways just days ago with Laura Wasser, who had been representing Spears in her increasingly contentious custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline.
On Tuesday, a judge ordered Spears to, among other things, submit to random drug testing twice a week and undergo parental counseling—both individually and in joint sessions with Federline—if she wants to maintain the joint custody arrangement she has with her former spouse.
The estranged pair have been sharing custody of two-year-old Sean Preston and one-year-old Jayden James.
Despite the strict and detailed instructions from the court, Spears has already been spotted out and about at an assortment of Hollywood nightspots.
But while it's too soon to tell whether Spears' yen for partying affects her family ties, her career comeback is still on schedule, according to her record label.
After she was publicly dropped by manager Jeff Kwatinetz, of the Firm in L.A., on Monday, Jive Records said it's still eyeing a Nov. 13 release date for Spears' new album.
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