Friday, 8 September 2006

Paris Hilton busted for alleged DUI

"It was nothing," says Paris, who explains she was just hungry for a hamburger

Paris Hilton was arrested in Hollywood Thursday for allegedly driving under the influence, Los Angeles police said.

Officer Martha Garcia tells PEOPLE, "Paris Hilton was pulled over just before 12:30 a.m. because she was observed driving erratically. She was riding in a Mercedes-Benz with another passenger.

"Officers observed that Hilton exhibited the symptoms of intoxication. The field sobriety test was conducted at the scene and the officers determined she was driving under the influence. She was arrested at 12:30 a.m. and was cooperative at the time of her arrest. She was released at 3 a.m. on her own recognizance, which is normal for a misdemeanor arrest."

Garcia also said Hilton took a Breathalyzer test showing her blood-alcohol level to be 0.08 percent, the minimum to warrant an arrest in California. Hilton's car was impounded.

Hilton, 25, was picked up from the Hollywood police station by sister Nicky and Nicky's boyfriend, Entourage star Kevin Connolly.

On Thursday morning, Hilton called in to Ryan Seacrest's radio show on L.A.'s 102.7 KIIS FM to explain the incident.

"You know what, it was nothing," she said. "I'd been shooting my music video for my new song, 'Nothing in this World.' … I got off last night at about 10 p.m. then I went and had dinner with my sister and all my girlfriends, and then we went to this charity event Dave Navarro threw for brain tumors.

"And um, I had one margarita, starving 'cause I had not ate all day, on my way to In-n-Out which is probably three blocks away, and I'm in my (Mercedes) SLR, which is a little fast, so maybe I was speeding a little bit" – she giggled – "and I got pulled over."

So, Seacrest asked, was she driving erratically, as reported? "No, I was just really hungry and I wanted to have an In-N-Out burger!"

She was only taken to the police station, she said, because "There was a lot of paparazzi around, so I think they wanted to make a statement. They even said, 'There's people watching, we don't want them to think we're giving you special treatment.' I totally understood. I was in there 15 minutes and out."

The police "were so nice," she said, adding that she was surprised by press coverage of her arrest. "Everything I do is blown out of proportion. It really hurts my feelings."