Posted By: YBMWEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Fresh from a stumble at the Grammys and muffing the national anthem at the Super Bowl, singer Christina Aguilera was arrested early Tuesday near the Sunset Strip on suspicion of being drunk in public but will not be prosecuted.
Authorities said Aguilera, 30, was "extremely intoxicated" when a car driven by her boyfriend was stopped at about 2:45 a.m. on Clark Street, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Bill McSweeney said Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said Aguilera
They smelled alcohol on the breath of 25-year-old Matthew Rutler, and a field sobriety test found him to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.09 percent, Whitmore said in California, a driver is legally under the influence at or above 0.08 percent. Rutler was arrested on suspicion of DUI and later released on $5,000 bail.
McSweeney said Aguilera appeared too drunk to care for herself and had no driver to take her home. She was arrested on suspicion of being drunk in public so she could be held at the West Hollywood sheriff's station, he said. Whitmore did not know how much the 5-foot-2, 100-pound Aguilera may have been drinking. She was given a breath test but the results will not be made public because she had no criminal intent and will not be prosecuted, he said. However, the misdemeanor arrest will remain on her record.
Aguilera did not ask to have anyone pick her up during the 30 to 45 minutes that deputies were at the car, Whitmore said.
Authorities said Aguilera, 30, was "extremely intoxicated" when a car driven by her boyfriend was stopped at about 2:45 a.m. on Clark Street, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Bill McSweeney said Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said Aguilera
"didn't really understand where she was but was cooperative."
She was not belligerent in any way what so ever,"Whitmore said Deputies saw the Mustang "burn rubber" and fish tail onto a street. The noise could be heard 100 feet away and constituted an "exhibition of speed" that prompted deputies to immediately stop the car, Whitmore said.
They smelled alcohol on the breath of 25-year-old Matthew Rutler, and a field sobriety test found him to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.09 percent, Whitmore said in California, a driver is legally under the influence at or above 0.08 percent. Rutler was arrested on suspicion of DUI and later released on $5,000 bail.
McSweeney said Aguilera appeared too drunk to care for herself and had no driver to take her home. She was arrested on suspicion of being drunk in public so she could be held at the West Hollywood sheriff's station, he said. Whitmore did not know how much the 5-foot-2, 100-pound Aguilera may have been drinking. She was given a breath test but the results will not be made public because she had no criminal intent and will not be prosecuted, he said. However, the misdemeanor arrest will remain on her record.
Aguilera did not ask to have anyone pick her up during the 30 to 45 minutes that deputies were at the car, Whitmore said.
"She didn't really understand where she was,"
"She said she didn't drive so she didn't even know where she lived."Whitmore said Aguilera was booked, finger printed and put alone in a cell. She was kept there until she was able to pass another sobriety test.
"When she was able to navigate and think on her own ... she was released"on $250 bail. Aguilera was released from the back of the station at about 7:30 a.m. , avoiding a cluster of paparazzi out front. She was driven home by an acquaintance who may have been a bodyguard, Whitmore said.
"It ends here,"he said.
"She's home safe and sound so, you know, job accomplished."California law allows deputies to detain intoxicated people for their own welfare until they sober up, without having any intention of prosecuting them, McSweeney said.
"You're sitting in a car drunk. You have every legal right to be there, but when we come across you we say you can't drive and we're not going to put you on the sidewalk."
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