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LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears turned herself into a Los Angeles police station last night to be photographed and fingerprinted in connection with two minor traffic offences.
The 26-year-old gum-chewing pop star, dressed in black miniskirt and leather jacket, spent about 30 minutes being processed after arriving at the station in the Los Angeles suburb of Van Nuys about 9pm Monday (5pm Tue NZT).
The booking related to an August 6 incident when her car scuffed another car in a parking lot as Spears was being trailed by dozens of paparazzi. As they clicked away, she got out of the car, surveyed the damage and walked into an adjacent building.
As a result, she was later charged with one misdemeanour count each of hit-and-run and driving without a California drivers' license. She is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges October 25 in Van Nuys Superior Court.
Monday's booking was an oddly low-key affair for Spears, who can rarely go anywhere without being pursued by the paparazzi. As a handful of reporters looked on, she strode through the front entrance with a male companion after turning down a police offer to use a back entrance.
When she emerged, she told reporters that the police officers were "really nice." She then got into the front passenger seat of her companion's Mercedes and was driven off.
- REUTERS