Nicole Richie's 'Difficult Time'

Reality Star Vows To Deal With DUI Arrest And Move Forward With Career

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Dec. 12, 2006 | by Judy Faber

(CBS/AP)  Nicole Richie isn't going to let her recent arrest stop her from moving forward with her career.

"This is a difficult time for Nicole, but she is prepared to accept whatever responsibility is appropriate," her attorney, Howard Weitzman, said in a statement to The Showbuzz Tuesday. "She intends to continue with her career and will deal with any other issues that need to be addressed."

One day after her arrest, Richie was greeted by a throng of paparazzi as she left rocker Joel Madden's Glendale, Calif. home, TMZ reported Tuesday. The Web site said that Madden, Hilary Duff's ex, is Richie's new boyfriend.

Richie was arrested at 1:45 a.m. on Monday for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol, authorities said.

California Highway Patrol officers took Richie, 25, into custody without incident after she failed a field sobriety test, CHP Officer Todd Workman told the Associated Press.

"She admitted to the officers that she had taken Vicodin and she had smoked marijuana earlier that evening," Workman said.

Her black Mercedes SUV was stopped in the car pool lane of State Highway 134 when officers arrived.

Other motorists had placed emergency calls around 12:30 a.m. about a car headed against traffic, officers said.

"I don't know if he kept going, but I saw him coming up the off-ramp and I was like 'you've got to be kidding me.' I thought maybe it was a cop, but it was just a normal SUV," said an unnamed 911 caller reporting the incident.

Descriptions of the vehicle matched Richie's. When officers arrived, they found her car facing in the right direction.

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Richie was placed in the passenger seat of her car and an officer drove the vehicle off the freeway.

Physician Michael Hirt told The Associated Press that Vicodin slows down reaction times and can also make people feel confused, dizzy and light-headed.

"And if you combine that with another central nervous system depressant like marijuana it's really like driving with a shirt pulled over your head — you are really in a cloud and not really competent to be driving," he added.

The star of "The Simple Life" reality series and daughter of pop singer Lionel Richie, was booked in Glendale, tested for drugs and released later Monday morning, Workman said. He said the results of the drug test hadn't been determined.

Her arraignment will take place Feb. 7 in Glendale Superior Court.

©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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