Paris Hilton arrested on cocaine charge in Vegas

LAS VEGAS - Paris Hilton was arrested on the Las Vegas Strip late Friday after police saw a cloud of what they suspected was marijuana smoke wafting from the windows of a black Cadillac Escalade driven by her boyfriend, then found a small amount of cocaine in her possession.

A crowd quickly gathered near the stop on Las Vegas Boulevard near the Wynn Las Vegas resort at about 11:30 p.m. PDT Friday, and Hilton was taken into the hotel "to keep her safe" during the initial investigation, police said.

The 29-year-old socialite and her boyfriend Cy Waits were booked into the Clark County jail, police said. Watch commander Lt. Wayne Holman said Hilton was released early Saturday morning.

Officer Marcus Martin said police found that Hilton had a substance that tests later showed to be cocaine, but he did not say how much of the drug was found. She was arrested on felony cocaine possession charges.

"I am gathering facts, but I caution people not to rush to judgment," her attorney, David Chesnoff, told The Associated Press in a brief telephone interview Saturday morning.

Hilton's manager did not immediately respond early Saturday to telephone calls for comment. Her publicist, Dawn Miller, did not immediately return an e-mail message.

Jail records showed that Waits, 34, remained held pending a court appearance on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Hilton's court date was not immediately available.

The arrest came during a week in which a burglary attempt was made on Hilton's Los Angeles home.

Officials said 31-year-old Nathan Lee Parada faces a felony burglary charge in the Tuesday incident.

Authorities have said that someone carrying two big knives banged on Hilton's window. She posted a photo of the arrest on Twitter and described it as "scary."

Hilton was arrested this summer after the Brazil-Netherlands World Cup match in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on suspicion of possession of marijuana. The case was then dropped at a midnight court hearing.

Hilton pleaded no contest in 2007 to alcohol-related reckless driving and was sentenced to 45 days in jail. After spending about 23 days in jail, Hilton told CNN host Larry King that the experience caused her to re-evaluate the role partying played in her life. She said she wanted "to help raise money for kids and for breast cancer and multiple sclerosis."

While most famous for her tabloid exploits and reality TV series "The Simple Life," Hilton has appeared in the films "Bottoms Up," "The Hottie & the Nottie" and "House of Wax."

Source: Yahoo News