Justin Bieber walked out of jail Thursday following his arrest
earlier in the day in Miami Beach, Fla. He was escorted by correctional
officers and waved to fans during his exit.
A judge set Justin Bieber’s bail at $2,500 Thursday after police say
he drag-raced down a Miami Beach street while under the influence of
alcohol. He was charged with DUI, driving with an expired license and
resisting arrest, Justin Bieber was arrested after police said they saw him speeding down a residential street in
Miami Beach in a yellow Lamborghini. Officers say he had an expired
license, was initially not cooperative when he was pulled over and
smelled of alcohol.
Police say Bieber later admitted that he had been drinking, smoking marijuana and taking prescription medication.
R&B singer Khalil Amir Sharieff was arrested in the same
incident. He is charged with driving under the influence, and his bond
was set at $1,000. Police said Sharieff was driving a Ferrari.
Bieber
and Sharieff, wearing bright red jail fatigues, appeared in court via a
video link from jail. They remained silent while defense attorney Roy
Black negotiated bond.
Black,
a high-profile lawyer whose clients have included Rush Limbaugh and
William Kennedy Smith, said he thought the case would proceed “hopefully
as any other case would” in light of Bieber’s celebrity status.
Authorities
say Bieber was arrested after police saw him and Sharieff racing two
luxury vehicles down the street at 4:09 a.m., with two other vehicles
apparently being used to block off the area. Police say Bieber was
clocked at 55 to 60 mph in a 30 mph zone.
Earlier Thursday, police chief Ray Martinez said at a news conference
that the singer was initially not cooperative when the officer pulled
him over. Martinez said the singer also had an invalid Georgia driver’s
license and admitted to smoking marijuana, taking prescription
medication and drinking.
According to the arrest report, Bieber
“had slow deliberate movements” and a look of stupor on his face when
the officer ordered him to exit his vehicle. Bieber, 19, was placed
under arrest after repeatedly refusing to put his hands on his vehicle
so the officer could pat him down to look for weapons, the report said.
It says he cursed several times at the officer and demanded to know why
he was being arrested.
Bieber failed a field sobriety test and was
taken to the Miami Beach police station for a Breathalyzer, police
said. Results haven’t been released.
His publicist, Melissa Victor, did not offer an immediate comment.
The
street where police say Bieber was racing in mid-Miami Beach is a
four-lane residential street divided by a grass median dotted with palm
trees. Along one side of the street are small apartment buildings, and
on the other side are a high school, a youth center, a golf course and a
city firehouse.
It’s a short drive from the area to trendy South
Beach, where celebrities are known to let loose. George Avilas, who
lives nearby said he didn’t hear anything, but was not surprised to hear
that people might be drag-racing.
“There’s so much partying in
Miami Beach, it’s been known to happen,” he said. “It’s 4 o’clock in the
morning, everybody is just getting out of the bars.”
Canadian-born
Bieber was only 15 when his platinum-selling debut “My World” was
released. The singer from Ontario had placed second in a local singing
contest two years earlier and began posting performances on YouTube,
according to his official website. The videos caught the attention of a
talent agent and eventually led to a recording contract.
He was
positioned as clean-cut and charming — even singing for President
Barack Obama and his family at Christmas — but problems began to
multiply as he got older; Thursday’s arrest is just the latest in a
series of troubling incidents.
Bieber has been accused of
wrongdoing in California, but has never been arrested or charged. He is
currently under investigation in a felony vandalism case after a neighbor reported the pop star threw eggs at his house and caused thousands of dollars of damage.
A
neighbor had previously accused Bieber of spitting in his face, and a
paparazzo called deputies after he said Bieber kicked him, but
prosecutors declined to file charges in either instance. He was also
accused of reckless driving in his neighborhood, but in October
prosecutors refused to seek charges because it was unclear whether
Bieber was driving.
His arrest in Miami is unlikely to affect the
current investigation, which included nearly a dozen detectives
searching Bieber’s home last week searching for video surveillance and
other evidence that could be used to pursue a vandalism charge.
Bieber
is also being sued by a former bodyguard who says the singer repeatedly
berated him, hit him in the chest and owes him more than $420,000 in
overtime and other wages. The case is scheduled to go to trial in Los
Angeles next month.
Under Florida law, people under the age of 21
are considered driving under the influence if they have a blood-alcohol
content of .02 percent or more — a level Bieber could reach with one
drink.
For a first DUI offense, there is no minimum sentence and a
maximum of six months, a fine of $250 to $500, and 50 hours of
community service. For anyone under 21, there is an automatic six-month
license suspension.
A first conviction for drag racing carries a
sentence of up to six months, a fine of $500 to $1,000 and a one-year
license suspension.
Bieber’s arrival in Florida earlier this week
also is under investigation. Authorities in the suburban Miami city of
Opa-locka are investigating whether the singer was given a police escort
when he landed Monday at the Opa-locka Executive Airport.
“The escort was unauthorized by police administration,” Assistant City Manager David Chiverton said.
Police
escorts from the airport are not uncommon, but they must follow
procedure because they involve city vehicles, Chiverton said.
“There’s a procedure,” Chiverton said. “These things must be approved, there’s a process.”
The Florida arrest likely won’t affect Bieber’s immigration status.
According
to U.S. immigration law, authorities do not revoke an individual’s visa
unless the person has been convicted of a violent crime or been
sentenced to more than one year imprisonment.
Immigration attorney
Ira Kurzban says neither driving under the influence nor driving
without a license can make an individual eligible for deportation. Nor
would either of those offenses keep Bieber from being readmitted into
the U.S.
“He’s not subject to deportation because of a DUI
offense,” said Kurzban, “nor is driving with an expired license a
deportable offense.”
Bieber was on tour for a good part of 2013, but he faced many bumps along the way.In December, the singer tweeted that he was “officially retiring” but
then told fans he’s “here forever.” The previous month, he was
reportedly caught at a brothel in Brazil. During that same say, Bieber left the stage at Arena Anhembi in Sao Paulo after an audience member threw a bottle at him; he never returned.
He recent told radio host Ryan Seacrest,
“People don’t get to see me living as a 19-year-old boy…I’m still
finding myself and when I have the media attacking me every day it’s no
[different] than bullying that happens in school.”
Last month, he visited young victims of Typhoon Haiyan, traveling to the Philippines after launching a worldwide campaign to help those affected by the deadly storm.
