LAS VEGAS – Smoke wafting from a Cadillac Escalade on the Las Vegas Strip set off Paris Hilton's latest legal troubles when a motorcycle officer who suspected the smell was marijuana stopped the vehicle and police say a bag of cocaine later fell out of the 29-year-old socialite's (another fancy name for a uselss human being) purse.
It's the second time this year Hilton has been arrested on drug possession allegations, although authorities in South Africa dropped marijuana charges earlier this summer. In 2007, Hilton pleaded no contest to alcohol-related reckless driving and was sentenced to 45 days in jail.
[Photo: Hiltons' latest mugshot]
This time, the hotel heiress was with her lastest in a string of boyfriends, Las Vegas nightclub mogul Cy Waits, who manages a club inside the Wynn Las Vegas and was driving the black SUV when she was arrested by an officer who stopped her from driving at 11:22 p.m. Friday.
The officer "followed the vapor trail and the odor of marijuana to the Escalade," police Sgt. John Sheahan said.
As other police arrived and a crowd gathered on the busy neon-lit Strip, Hilton asked to go into the Wynn resort for privacy, Sheahan said. Needless to say, the spoiled celebrat was granted her request (imagine if that was YOU).
According to the accomodating police, "Miss Hilton pulled out a tube of lip balm, when a bindle of cocaine in a plastic bag came
out of her purse in plain view of police in the room. Evidently she didn't have enough cash on her to go around and was consequently arrested.
[Photos: Is Paris too hot for Brazil? (NO, but who cares? - link removed)]
Paris Hilton 'extremely embarrassed' as police searched SUV, report says
Paris Hilton was "extremely embarrassed" after Las Vegas police pulled her SUV over Friday night and allegedly discovered cocaine in a purse she was carrying, according to a police report.
Police said they pulled over Hilton's vehicle because they smelled marijuana coming from it. When they did so, a crowd gathered, with some taking pictures.
Hilton was "extremely embarrassed, due to all the people taking pictures of her," the report said.
Police allege they found 0.8 grams of cocaine in a purse she was carrying. Hilton denied that the purse was hers but said other items in it, including asthma medication, credit cards and $1,300 in cash, were hers, according to a police report.
Hilton was arrested with her boyfriend, Las Vegas nightclub operator Cy Waits, who was driving the black SUV stopped by police at 11:22 p.m. Friday.
Hilton is expected to be charged with felony drug possession by Clark County prosecutors, based on the police report.
Hilton and Waits
were stopped near the Wynn Hotel, where a crowd gathered as officers
prepared to search the Cadillac Escalade for narcotics, according to
the report. Hilton told the officer she needed to use the bathroom and
was escorted into the hotel.
Lt. Dennis Flynn of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said Hilton carried the purse into the hotel, and he had her place it on a table in a security room. As they waited for a female officer to arrive to help with the search, Hilton asked for her purse to get lip balm.
"As she began to open it, I saw a small bindle of what I believed to be cocaine in a clear baggy begin to fall from the purse and into my hand," Flynn wrote. "I then immediately took the purse and dropped the bindle back on the top," waiting for another officer to witness the recovery.
The lieutenant asked "Hilton whose cocaine it was, and she said she had not seen it and" thought it was gum, he wrote in the report.
Hilton told him she borrowed the purse, but the cash, asthma medication, credit cards and Zig-Zag cigarette rolling papers inside were hers, Flynn said.
She allegedly told Flynn that the cosmetics in the purse were not hers. Flynn noted that Zig-Zags are typically used to roll marijuana cigarettes.
Hilton's attorney, David Chesnoff, urged people not to "rush to judgment."
"This matter will be dealt with in the courts, not in the media, and I encourage people not to rush to judgment until all of the facts have been dealt with in a court of law," he said in a statement.
Waits was booked on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence.
His attorney, Richard Schonfeld, says the two are innocent and the facts will exonerate them.
Police Officer Marcus Martin characterized the cocaine as a "small amount," or a package of the size usually associated with personal use. Police would not specify the weight of the cocaine or whether any marijuana was confiscated.
Hilton was arrested on suspicion of felony cocaine possession.
If convicted of the low-grade felony(??!), she would get probation, but any violation of that probation would be punishable by up to one to four years in Nevada state prison (and if you believe that this will happen to a corporate celebutant, then your IQ is less than 80).
On the other hand, Waits, 34, was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Misdemeanors are punishable by up to a year in county jail. Police said he owned the 2009 Cadillac.
Hilton and Waits were booked into the Clark County jail, where Sheahan said Hilton was kept handcuffed on a booking room bench, fingerprinted, photographed and released within minutes and without bail about 2:45 a.m. Saturday (who gets released without bail for posssion of cocaine unless they are members of the corporate elite?)
Waits' lawyer, Richard Schonfeld, said Waits posted $2,000 bail Saturday. Waits was released Saturday afternoon.
Sheahan said Hilton was not taken to a cell and received no special treatment on a busy Friday night and Saturday morning at the jail. He said release without bail was common in such cases.
Hilton, a mindless prolific tweeter, didn't mention the arrest
on her Twitter site, although less than an hour after she was released
her account was updated with a posting that said the actress was in bed
watching the television show "Family Guy" (as though anyone cares).
It was unclear if the tweets came from her, were posted by time-release or were sent by someone else. Hilton spokeswoman Dawn Miller wouldn't comment when reached by an Associated Press reporter Saturday afternoon.
Hilton's attorney, David Chesnoff, told The Associated Press on Saturday morning that he was still gathering facts about the arrest.
"This matter will be dealt with in the courts not in the media and I encourage people not to rush to judgment until all of the facts have been dealt with in a court of law," Chesnoff said later in a statement. "There will be no interviews and no more comments at this time."
Schonfeld said he was "troubled by the circumstances" leading to the arrest, but declined to specify his concerns.
"As the case proceeds, a lot of facts are going to come to light that will ultimately lead to exoneration," Schonfeld said while not mentioning the amounts (if any) that might be paid to certain individuals in the Nevada legal system.
Court dates for Hilton and Waits were not immediately available. Clark County District Attorney David Roger declined to comment Saturday about the case.This is a rarity since prosecutors like nothing better than to trumpet their arrest to the community for re-election purposes).
A spokeswoman for Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Waits and his twin brother, Jesse, are managing partners of the Tryst Nightclub inside Wynn Las Vegas, Drai's after hours club at Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon, and XS The Nightclub at Wynn's Encore resort. A spokeswoman for Harrah's resorts declined immediate comment.
Earlier this week, Hilton was in the news when a 31-year-old man allegedly tried to break into her Los Angeles home.
Authorities have said that someone carrying two big knives banged on Hilton's window in a rather dubious report by corporate media on Tuesday. Hilton, sensing the publicity oppotijy, promptly posted a photo of the arrest on her Twitter and described it as "scary." A man named Nathan Lee Parada faces a felony burglary charge.
Hilton was arrested this summer after the Brazil-Netherlands World Cup match in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on suspicion of possession of marijuana. The case was then dropped at a midnight court hearing -was money used to procure her release? Do bears poop in the forrest?
Hilton pleaded no contest in 2007 to alcohol-related reckless driving and was sentenced to 45 days in jail. After spending about 23 days in jail, Hilton told CNN host Larry King that the experience caused her to re-evaluate the role partying played in her life. She said she wanted "to help raise money for kids and for breast cancer and multiple sclerosis."
While only famous for her tabloid exploits and inane reality TV series "The Simple Life," Hilton has appeared in the throw away films "Bottoms Up," "The Hottie & the Nottie" and "House of Wax."
Will anything come of this latest malarkey of Hilton's? We doubt it. As long as her neme is metionioned anywhere, Hilton will undoubtable be happy considering that she will never have to pay for justice like the rest of the American public.
