American actress and paparazzi magnet Lindsay Lohan was arrested outside a New York City hotel early Wednesday morning on charges that she clipped a pedestrian with her luxury SUV and left the scene of the accident, police told U.S. media.
Lohan went into the Dream Hotel’s nightclub in downtown Manhattan and was taken into custody when she left at 2:30 am. According to police, the 26-year-old actress was driving a 2010 black Porsche Cayenne SUV slowly through an alley leading into the hotel when the accident occurred.
The alleged victim, Jose Rodriguez, a 34-year-old cook, called 911 and was taken to a hospital where he was treated for a knee injury and released.
Police, however, said there was no alcohol involved. Lohan was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and causing an injury. She was taken into custody and will have to appear in court at a later date.
The arrest could complicate Lohan’s ongoing probation stemming from the theft last year of a $2,500 necklace from a California boutique. The former Disney actress, who has starred in Hollywood movies since she was a child, has had numerous run-ins with the law, which include DUI charges, cocaine possession and failures to appear in court.
Rodriguez told the New York Daily News that he saw Lohan’s car “come real quick and hit me.”
“I asked, ‘Why did you do that?’” Rodriguez said. “She told me I had to move. … She was slurring. She smelled like alcohol real bad.”
According to celebrity Web site TMZ, a detective who had seen surveillance video of the incident said it showed Lohan driving “at a crawl” when it “grazed” the back of the alleged victim’s leg. TMZ also reported that another investigator said the car never made contact with the accuser.
And TMZ said the man was seen on video running after Lohan.
Attempts by media outlets to reach Lohan’s attorneys and publicist were not successful.
Lohan has starred in Hollywood films such as “The Parent Trap,” “Mean Girls,” and “Georgia Rule.” She plays Elizabeth Taylor in the upcoming movie “Liz & Dick,” which is scheduled to be broadcast on American television later this year.
