Actress Lindsay Lohan, currently in drug treatment at the Betty Ford Center, is a suspect in a criminal battery investigation stemming from an altercation that occurred after Lohan and her rehab roommates went to a bar, TMZ reported Tuesday.
Lohan, 24, and her Betty Ford roommates reportedly left the facility to go to a bar on the night of Dec. 11. After the group returned to the facility, police received a report of hand-to-hand battery from a female Betty Ford staffer at 1:03am on Dec. 12.
Palm Desert Police Department officers arrived on the scene and interviewed both Lohan and the Betty Ford staffer. Officers told TMZ the staffer “desired prosecution.”
Sources close to Lohan told TMZ that she claims the staffer put her hands on Lohan first. Lohan responded by saying, “Take your hands off me” and pushed the woman back, the sources said.
The department is investigating the incident. When the investigation is complete, the case will be forwarded to prosecutors for review. One of the terms of Lohan’s probation is that she “obey all laws,” and being found guilty of battery could send her back to jail for six months.
A source told Radar Online that both Lohan and the Betty Ford Center are trying to keep the incident out of court. “Both sides are trying to work out something,” the source said. “But right now the talks do not include the worker involved in the incident.”
TMZ reported that Lohan will file a formal complaint against the Betty Ford staffer and wants the facility to take action against her.
Lohan, 24, checked into Betty Ford in September after testing positive for cocaine while on probation for a previous offense. Under the terms of her court sentence, Lohan is to stay at the treatment center until at least Jan. 3, 2011.
The “Mean Girls” star spent 14 days behind bars in July for violating the terms of her 2007 DUI probation.