Amanda Bynes DUI arrest: Probation may be revoked; jail possible

Actress Amanda Bynes could face jail time if a judge revokes her probation after her arrest last weekend on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, sources told The Times.

Bynes, 28, was already on three years’ probation for striking a Los Angeles County sheriff’s cruiser while under the influence in April 2012. In that case, Bynes was able to avoid jail time after she agreed in February to serve probation and attend alcohol education classes.

In light of her latest arrest, authorities will likely ask a judge to find Bynes in violation of her probation, and to impose new life-oversight measures based on information in the California Highway Patrol investigation, according to sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The child-star-turned-movie-actress, who has a history of mental health issues and arrests, had entered into her previous plea deal while she was under conservatorship of her mother, Lynn, after a mental health detention by the state. Since then, however, Bynes has moved to Orange County and is no longer under the watchful eye of her parents.

She was taken into custody about 4 a.m. Sunday in Sherman Oaks after a CHP officer observed her allegedly stop her Mercedes GL 450 on Riverside Drive at a red light past the limit line and into the intersection with Van Nuys Boulevard.

CHP Officer Leland Tang said Bynes was detained after appearing to be under the influence and failing a series of sobriety field tests.

Tang said Bynes’ blood was drawn, but he does not know what kind of drugs the actress is alleged to have been using. She was formally booked at 7 a.m. and released from custody at 12:44 p.m. Sunday. An Irvine resident, according to booking information, Bynes had been attending design school in Orange County.

A source familiar with the investigation, but not authorized to discuss it, told The Times that at least one of the drugs involved is likely a prescribed medication, but under the law, even those drugs cannot be used to a level that impairs a person’s driving.

Bynes has had several run-ins with law enforcement in L.A. and New York, culminating with her setting a fire in the driveway of a Southern California home and being taken into custody on a mental health hold last year by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

She was also accused in New York of throwing a glass bong out her 36th-floor Manhattan apartment.

Follow Southern California crime: @lacrimes