Actress Amanda Bynes, who has had a string of legal troubles in the past year and is already on probation, was free on bail today following her arrest in the Van Nuys area on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs.
Bynes, 28, was arrested around 3:45 a.m. Sunday at Van Nuys Boulevard and Riverside Drive, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Bynes was booked on suspicion of a misdemeanor and was released on $15,000 bail. Her next court appearance was tentatively scheduled for Oct. 23 in Van Nuys, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
According to the CHP, officers saw a white Mercedes-Benz GL450 SUV that was being driven westbound on Riverside Drive, and the driver stopped for a red light “in the middle of the intersection with Van Nuys Boulevard.”
“CHP initiated an enforcement stop, and the subject vehicle immediately yielded to the right curb of northbound Van Nuys Boulevard north of Riverside Drive,” according to the CHP. “The driver, identified by her driver’s license as Ms. Amanda Bynes, appeared to be under the influence.”
Bynes was taken to the West Valley CHP office and evaluated by a “drug recognition expert,” according to the CHP. “Based on the observed driving and her evaluation, Ms. Bynes was arrested for … driving under the influence of a drug.”
CHP officials said Bynes “was cooperative during the entire process.”
On Feb. 24, Bynes pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge stemming from a collision with a patrol car in West Hollywood in April 2012. She was sentenced to three years probation and a three-month alcohol education class, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Bynes completed nearly six months of rehab in December, after being involuntarily hospitalized when her pants caught fire while she was setting a fire in a Thousand Oaks driveway.
Her mother — who cited her daughter’s paranoia, erratic behavior and wild spending habits as evidence that she needed professional help — was granted conservatorship following the incident. According to TMZ.com, the conservatorship expired last month, and Bynes is living in an Orange County apartment. The CHP arrest report lists her address only as Irvine.
The West Hollywood DUI charge was just one of a series of misdemeanor counts filed against the actress in 2012. She was charged in two separate hit-and-runs on April 10 and Aug. 4 of that year and with two counts of driving on a suspended license by the City Attorney’s Office. She pleaded no contest to driving on a suspended license and was placed on three years probation.
Bynes is best known for her roles on Nickelodeon’s “All That” and “The Amanda Show” and films such as “Hairspray,” “What a Girl Wants,” “Easy A,” “She’s the Man” and “Sydney White.”
