Britney Spears was arrested in Southern California on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, the California Highway Patrol said Wednesday, adding that she was released after the arrest. The CHP said officers received a report shortly before 9 p.m. about a black BMW 430i driving fast and erratically on U.S. 101 in Newbury Park, in Ventura County near the Los Angeles County line. The CHP said Spears was the only person in the car.
After the report, the CHP said Spears exited the freeway and pulled over. The CHP said officers believed she appeared to be impaired and administered a series of field sobriety tests before arresting her on suspicion of DUI involving a combination of alcohol and drugs. Authorities said Spears was taken to a Ventura County jail.
Jail records cited by authorities said Spears was booked early Thursday morning and released at about 6 a.m. The CHP said chemical test results are pending and the case remains under investigation. The arrest took place near Thousand Oaks, where the CHP said she was living in nearby Westlake Village.
A statement attributed to Spears’ representative said the arrest was “inexcusable.” The statement also said Spears “is going to take the right steps and comply with the law” and that “hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life,” adding that she would get the help and support needed during a “difficult time.”
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office will determine whether charges will be filed, according to authorities. Spears has a May 4 court date scheduled, the statement from authorities said, with the arrest framed as a case now moving into the charging decision stage pending test results.
The arrest landed in the midst of renewed public scrutiny around Spears, whose career began in pop culture milestones tied to the Mickey Mouse Club and expanded to MTV and major hits including “… Baby One More Time,” “Oops!… I Did It Again” and “Toxic,” according to the Associated Press report. AP also noted that Spears’ life became a frequent focus for tabloid coverage in the early 2000s, and that her effort to control her life later became the focus of the #FreeBritney movement.
AP said Spears was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship in 2008 that ran for more than a decade and was dissolved in 2021. Two years after the end of the conservatorship, Spears released a memoir, “The Woman in Me,” AP reported.