Paris Hilton Arrested for Drunk Driving

Paris Hilton, the self-professed teetotaler seems to have broken her vow not to drink alcohol. Early this morning, she was arrested on charges of driving under the influence.

Gossip site TMZ was the first to break the story of Hilton's arrest. According to them, officers noticed her Mercedes was weaving around 12:30am and suspected the driver may have been intoxicated. Officers recognized the driver as Hilton as they approached the car (what? didn't they run her license plates before they got out of their car?) and administered a sobriety test on her. She reportedly registered a .08 blood alcohol, which is the minimum limit to be considered DUI.

Hilton was arrested and driven to the LAPD Hollywood branch where she was booked and charged. Her sister Nicky arrived soon after, with Nicky's boyfriend, actor Kevin Connolly ("Entourage") and Hilton's publicist, Elliot Mintz, in tow. She was soon released on her own recognizance and driven home by Mintz. Surprisingly, she didn't even have to stay the standard minimum of three hours before she was let go. According to TMZ, the watch commander on duty said that due to the throng of papparazzi that were descending on the station, and he felt holding Hilton the minimum time would cause security issues in front of the building.

So celebs, take note -- if you get booked, make sure one of your calls is to the papparazzi.

TMZ went on to say that even though Hilton did have her mug shot taken, the LAPD would has stated they would not release it. What? Is that legal, considering every other celebrity has had their photo released? I'm betting it takes less than a week for either TMZ or The Smoking Gun to get their hands on a copy of it.

TMZ staff was on hand, though, with a video camera as Hilton arrived at her house -- talking on her cellphone -- and managed to get their side of the story. According to Mintz, Hilton had been working all day on a music video and had not eaten before attending a charity party. She had one margarita near the end of her appearance at the party and that, combined with the other factors, contributed to her erratic driving.

"These matters are never to be taken lightly, and it was unfortunate that she was behind the wheel of a car, even with one drink," Mintz said at the impromptu early morning press conference. "But it'll never happen again."

She needn't worry too much, though. As a first time DUI, she won't do jail time. Most likely she'll get probation, a fine, community service or a court-mandated alcohol treatment program, and have her license restricted for 90 days.

You can view the videos shot during the events of the morning here.

So what do you think of Hilton being arrested on a DUI? Even though the station and her publicist claim she was treated like any other DUI arrest, the facts clearly state she received some preferential treatment. Want to talk about it? Visit our message forum.

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