Actress arrested after car crash

American actress Lindsay Lohan was arrested after her convertible struck a kerb in the US, and investigators found what they believe is cocaine at the scene, police said.

She suffered minor injuries in the accident.

Lohan, 20, and two other people were in her 2005 Mercedes SL-65 when it crashed on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles around 5.30am yesterday, Sergeant Mike Foxen said.

It appeared Lohan was exceeding the speed limit, Lieutenant Mitch McCann said at an afternoon news conference.

Officers at the scene found a “usable amount” of a drug tentatively identified as cocaine, McCann said. He declined to say where the drug was found other than to say Lohan was not carrying it.

Lohan, who spent time at a rehabilitation centre earlier this year, was driven in another car to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, McCann said.

The two other people in her car were not hurt.

Officers received an emergency call about the accident and arrested Lohan at the hospital for investigation of misdemeanour driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, McCann said.

She was released from custody because she was admitted to hospital, police said.

Lohan will have to appear in court to answer the citation.

The crash was Lohan’s third accident in two years.

In October 2005, Lohan and a passenger received minor injuries when her convertible hit a van in West Hollywood. Authorities said the van driver, who also suffered minor injuries, was at fault.

Months earlier, Lohan collided with a minivan when she made a U-turn as the van, carrying paparazzi, followed her from a Los Angeles restaurant.

A photographer was arrested for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon but prosecutors declined to charge him.

That crash was credited with prompting California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign a law that set steep financial penalties for paparazzi who commit assaults while trying to obtain celebrity photos.

Lohan publicist Leslie Sloane Zelnik did not immediately return an e-mail requesting comment.

Lohan said in January that she had checked into a rehabilitation centre for substance abuse treatment.

Her publicist confirmed in December that the actress was attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Lohan told Allure magazine during an interview for its May issue that she decided to enter the secluded Wonderland Centre at the suggestion of her therapist.

“It’s so weird that I went to rehab. I always said I would die before I went to rehab,” Lohan told the publication.

Lohan’s latest film, Georgia Rule, is in cinemas now.

Her other screen credits include Mean Girls, Bobby, A Prairie Home Companion and Freaky Friday.