Troubled pop singer Justin Bieber
has appeared in court following charges for resisting arrest and driving under
the influence in Miami Beach, Florida.
Wearing the standard orange
jumpsuit and appearing via closed circuit TV, he looked serious as the judge
set his bond at a mere $2,500, a sum he should have no trouble raising.
Earlier, a mugshot had been
released of the Canadian star after his arrest for offences including being
under suspicion of drag racing on a Miami Beach street in Florida. Sources have
told law enforcement officials that the star was in a yellow rented
Lamborghini.
US entertainment site TMZ.com is
in possession of a video which shows a group of young women near a yellow
Lamborghini with men dressed in black. A male climbs in and drives away.
A Miami Beach Police Department
report states charges for resisting police without violence and driving with an
expired licence. There are no charges associated with the drag racing.
Miami Dade-Police spokesman Sgt
Bobby Hernandez said officers saw two cars racing at 4:09 am today. Two
vehicles had apparently been used to block off an area on Pine Tree Drive at
26th Street, a residential area, at 4:30 a.m for the drag race.
The second car was a red Ferrari;
that driver was also arrested. Both cars were towed away, but photos of a yellow
Lamborghini were posted to Justin Bieber's Instagram account - they have since
been removed.
Miami Beach police posted a copy
of the arrest report to Twitter from their official @MiamiBeachPD
account.
The arresting officer notes that
Justin asked: "Why did you stop me?" The officer explained that he
was being stopped for drag racing. However, the officer reports he:
"immediately smelled an odour of alcohol emanating from the driver's
breath and bloodshot eyes."
On being asked to get out of the
car, the alleged response was: "Why the f*** are you doing this?"
Following procedure, the officer asked Bieber to put his hands on the car so
that he could pat him down.
"I ain't got no f***ing
weapons. Why do you have to search me?" was the reported response.
The officer warned Bieber that he
would be under arrest if he didn't do as he was told and keep his hands on the
car.
When Bieber didn't comply, he was
duly arrested. The singer resisted being handcuffed and was taken into custody.
He failed a sobriety test which -
according to the Miami Herald who have cited Miami Beach Police Chief Raymond
Martinez as their source - indicated he was under the influence of drugs.
In Florida, anyone under the age
of 21 is considered under the influence if their blood-alcohol content is .02
per cent or more.
The Miami Herald also reported
that Bieber had allegedly been smoking marijuana, drinking beer and
"popping anti-depressants". They say he was 'incoherent, had his
hands in his pockets and resisted arrest without violence'.
In Miami for the last few days,
the 19-year-old visited a local skateboarding store and spent some time with
his father, Jeremy Bieber.
He was placed into custody to be
booked and processed. He was taken to the Miami-Dade County jail.
Justin Bieber's woes appear to be
mounting; on 14 January, reports surfaced of detectives searching his home
looking for surveillance footage that might serve as evidence in an egg-tossing
vandalism case that allegedly caused thousands of dollars in damage to a
neighbour's home.
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