Lindsay Lohan Under Investigation in Assault Case at Rehab
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) Lindsay Lohan is under investigation for an alleged misdemeanor battery against a female staffer at a rehab facility where the actress is receiving treatment, authorities said Tuesday.
Riverside County sheriff's Deputy Herlinda Valenzuela said officers responded to a Betty Ford Center facility in Palm Desert on Dec. 12 shortly after 1 a.m. for an incident involving Lohan.
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Valenzuela says a female staffer reported having a dispute with the "Mean Girls" star and that she wanted to pursue charges. No arrests were made and Valenzuela says detectives continue to look into the case.
Their results will be presented to Riverside County prosecutors, who will decide whether to file a criminal case, Valenzuela said.
According to TMZ, Lohan denies pushing the woman first. The staffer reportedly scolded Lohan for allegedly returning past curfew after spending the evening at a local bar, and demanded the actress take a drug/alcohol test. It was during that exchange that that the woman reportedly "put her hands" on Lohan.
The actress claims she told the woman, "Take your hands off of me" and then "pushed back," according to the report.
Messages for Lohan's attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, were not immediately returned. An e-mail message seeking comment from a Betty Ford spokesman was not immediately returned, although the facility does not comment on its patients.
Lohan has been receiving treatment at the Betty Ford Center and its facilities, about 120 miles east of Los Angeles, since late September. A judge overseeing her probation stemming from a 2007 drunk driving case has required Lohan to remain at the rehab centeruntil Jan. 3.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elden S. Fox has scheduled a hearing on Lohan's progress for Feb. 25. He has said he would be willing to place her on informal probation and allow her to leave Los Angeles if she stayed out of trouble until then.
Lohan's stint at Betty Ford is her fifth stay in rehab and her second this year. Fox agreed to release her early from treatment at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in late August, but she failed a drug screening within weeks.
Fox opted to send her back to rehab rather than jail, where she would have been released early due to overcrowding.