Sheriff’s investigators want Lindsay Lohan charged with battery for last month’s skirmish with a Betty Ford Center rehabilitation technician.
A two-week investigation shows Lohan violated her probation during the altercation and details will be sent to the Los Angeles County Probation Department this week, Riverside sheriff’s Sgt. Joe Borja said in a news release.
“The investigation determined Ms. Lohan violated several aspects of her probation, including the battery [charge],” the Palm Desert Police Department said in a press release Monday, obtained by Access Hollywood.
On Tuesday, Shawn Chapman Holley, Lohan’s lawyer, issued a statement noting they were troubled that the Palm Desert Police spoke out about the alleged incident with Holland.
“The important, yet limited, investigatory role of the police to gather facts and collect evidence is well-established. The fact that the Palm Desert Police Department went outside this limited role to issue a press statement expressing its opinion about what should happen in Ms. Lohan’s case is highly unusual and deeply troubling,” Holley’s statement to Access Hollywood read.
A Beverly Hills judge has said Lohan will be jailed if she violates probation.
Investigators expect to take their case to the Riverside County district attorney’s office this week for possible prosecution, Borja said.
Lohan returned to the Palm Desert drug dependency center on Dec. 12 after curfew and refused rehab worker Dawn Holland’s request to take a Breathalyzer test. Lohan is accused of pushing Holland. Lohan reportedly called 911, but when Holland spoke to a responder, Lohan allegedly ripped the phone away, and injured Holland’s wrist.
Lohan was receiving treatment at Betty Ford, about 120 miles east of Los Angeles, at the time the alleged incident occurred. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elden Fox, who has overseen Lohan’s probation for her 3 1/2 year-old drunken driving case, required Lohan to remain at the rehab center until Monday.
John Hall, spokesman for the Riverside County district attorney’s office, said his office expected to receive investigators’ findings this week. If Lohan is prosecuted in Riverside County, the Los Angeles County probation department would be notified, he said.
The actress is due back in court Feb. 25 in Beverly Hills for a hearing at which Fox is expected to address Lohan’s probation and the Betty Ford altercation.
Lohan left rehab on Monday, a source told Access Hollywood.
Whether she’s in or out, Lohan faces an uncertain career and looming legal issues. For months, she’s been haunted by her inability, or unwillingness, to shake the drunken driving case that resulted in Lohan’s two separate trips to rehab and jail in 2010.
Despite the latest investigation, experts say Lohan has a good shot at recovery. Provided, of course, that she wants it, changes her partygirl lifestyle and remains in continued therapy.
If a New Year’s Day message posted on her Twitter account is any indication, the “Mean Girls” star seems ready to do just that. “Today is the first day of the rest of my life,” it said. “‘The future depends on what we do in the present.’ -Mahatma Gandhi… One step at a time…”
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