LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Lindsay Lohan's weekend drunken-driving bust could spell a hangover for trendy Hollywood-area nightspots, some of them already the targets of a year long crackdown on underage drinking.
The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, which regulates liquor licensing, is looking into whether alcohol was served illegally to Lohan in the hours before her arrest by police in Beverly Hills, an agency spokesman said on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old actress was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence after running her Mercedes over a curb and into a hedge at about 5:30 a.m. on Saturday. Police said they also found a substance in the car they believe to be cocaine.
Her arrest came about two hours after she was seen leaving a popular Hollywood eatery. It was followed by a second night of partying that ended early Monday with Lohan captured in widely published photos passed out in the front seat of a car.
Later that day, Lohan, an acknowledged Alcoholic Anonymous member who underwent rehab earlier this year, checked herself into another treatment facility.
Lohan's woes focused attention on the nightclubs and restaurants that cater to Hollywood's rich and famous and their complicity in serving alcohol to individuals under the legal drinking age of 21.
A flurry of reports about underage stars and lesser-known minors frequenting Los Angeles-area nightspots prompted the state's ABC board to launch an enforcement crackdown that has resulted in 10 undercover operations so far, agency spokesman John Carr said.
He said one bar, Teddy's in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, paid a $3,000 (1,500 pounds) fine earlier this month for license violations that included serving alcohol after hours.
Another club, Mood, faces a possible license suspension after being cited for allowing minors on the premises, but the establishment has challenged that finding, setting the stage for a hearing on the matter, Carr said.
According to Us Weekly magazine, Lohan spent hours at the Roosevelt Hotel on Sunday and Monday before her collapse. And the Los Angeles Times said she and other young celebs, including Mary-Kate Olsen, Frankie Muniz and Jesse McCartney, were photographed last year at Mood.
Carr declined to say which establishments were under review as a result of Lohan's weekend brush with the law.
The owners of the upscale Hollywood restaurant Les Deux, which has no age limit as a dining establishment, acknowledged that Lohan had dinner there the night of her arrest and left after closing time. But they said she drank bottled water, not alcohol, had a driver, and was allowed to stay after closing to wait for friends who were packing up DJ equipment.
"Once she leaves here, I don't know what she does. But we do card everybody," co-owner Sylvain Bitton told Reuters.
why another celeb stunt to gain attention, i can't stand her and i dont like her and i dont care abt her, dont post news related to her again