By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES — Police seized Paris Hilton’s
$190,000 blue Bentley after the heiress was caught driving on a
suspended license and prosecutors vowed on Wednesday to ask a
judge to revoke her probation for reckless driving.
A court determination that Hilton violated
the terms of her probation could result in her being fined or
even jailed for up to 90 days, a spokesman for the Los Angeles
City Attorney’s Office said.
Hilton was pulled over on Sunset Boulevard in
the city of West Hollywood at 11 p.m. on Tuesday for driving
without headlights, and her luxury car was impounded when police
realized her license had been suspended, a Los Angeles County
Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.
The incident comes about five weeks after
Hilton was sentenced to three years probation for pleading no
contest – the equivalent of a guilty plea – to alcohol-related
reckless driving stemming from a September arrest in Hollywood.
"Miss Paris Hilton was driving the vehicle.
After investigating her license status it was determined that
she was driving on a suspended license," sheriff’s spokesman
Oscar Butao told Reuters.
"Miss Hilton was cited for a suspended
license violation and released in the field. Her 2007 blue
Bentley Continental GTC was impounded," Butao said. Authorities
can hold the 12-cylinder, 550-horsepower car for up to 30 days.
City Attorney’s Office spokesman Frank
Mateljan said driving on a suspended license violated the terms
of her probation for the reckless driving offense.
Once police present prosecutors with the
citation, the City Attorney will ask a court to revoke her
probation, and a hearing on the matter will be set.
If the judge revokes her probation, Hilton
could face penalties ranging from 90 days in jail to a new,
lengthier probation sentence, fines or additional community
service obligations, Mateljan said.
Butao said Hilton was alone at the time of
Tuesday night’s traffic stop and was not tested for alcohol
consumption.
Hilton’s spokesman, Elliot Mintz, said his
client told him she was stopped while on her way to a store to
pick up some DVDs after doing a photo shoot at her home.
He said she had apparently forgotten to turn on her
headlights when she pulled out of a parking garage. Hilton
bought the car for herself around Christmas, Mintz said. –
Reuters