Lindsay Lohan Arrested in New York, Issued a Desk Appearance Ticket

The New York Post is reporting that actress Lindsay Lohan was arrested early this morning at the Dream Downtown Hotel in the confines of the 10th Precinct. According to the story, Ms. Lohan was issued a desk appearance ticket for Leaving the Scene of an Accident Without Reporting, a violation of New York’s Vehicle and Traffic Law. This charge is normally a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail. If the injured person is seriously hurt or dies, however, the charge may be elevated to a class E or D felony. The issuance of the Desk Appearance Ticket here appears to be a signal that the police did not consider the victim’s injuries to be severe enough to warrant felony treatment. It is also interesting to note that under normal circumstances, it is very difficult for an out-of-state resident or a person with a criminal record to obtain a Desk Appearance Ticket. Instead, most of those individuals are “processed” through the system — that is, taken to central booking at 100 Centre Street — and usually see a judge to be arraigned on the charges within 24 to 36 hours of the arrest. We cannot, however, suggest here that Ms. Lohan is either an out-of-state resident or that she has a criminal record.