Britney Spears, Accused Of Driving Drunk And High, Could Avoid Jail Time: Prosecutors

Britney Spears was formally charged Thursday with driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol after police say she was caught driving erratically in Ventura County last month.

The 44-year-old pop star was charged with a single misdemeanor count of driving under the combined influence of alcohol and at least one drug, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said.

Authorities have not indicated what drug or drugs Spears is accused of taking.

About a month after her March 4 DUI arrest, Spears voluntarily checked into a rehabilitation facility, CBS News reported. A representative for the singer described the incident as "completely inexcusable," and something that could potentially be "the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney's life."

She's set to be arraigned May 4. Because it's a misdemeanor charge, she will not be required to appear in court. The case will be handled according to standard protocol for defendants with no DUI history, no crash or injury on the road and a low blood-alcohol level, prosecutors said.

Spears will be offered what's commonly known as a "wet reckless," which allows a defendant to plead guilty and get a year of probation, credit for any time served in jail, a required DUI class and state-mandated fines and fees, prosecutors said.

The offer is common especially for defendants who have independently shown motivation to address their problems and seek treatment, the district attorney’s office said.

Spears' arrest came after an emergency caller reported a black BMW 430i was driving fast and erratically on the southbound 101 Freeway near the Borchard Road exit in Newbury Park just before 9 p.m., a California Highway Patrol spokesman told KTLA.

CHP officers responded and located the BMW near Westlake Boulevard, close to the Los Angeles County line. Officers pulled the car over. Spears was driving and the only one in the car, the station reported.

Police dispatch audio obtained by Extra reveals that Spears was driving with no taillights, braking and swerving.

Spears “showed signs of impairment and submitted to a series of field sobriety tests.” She was arrested at the scene, booked in jail and released from custody at around 6 a.m. the following morning, according to KTLA.

Spears was arrested not far from where she lives, in the Ventura County city of Thousand Oaks.

In 2007, Spears was charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run and driving a vehicle without a license in connection to a crash in a Studio City parking lot, the Los Angeles Times reported. Those charges were dropped.

The singer was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship the next year. The legal arrangement saw her father and his lawyers control her personal and financial decisions until 2021, when it was dissolved amid a public legal battle.

Since then, she has married and divorced, and released a bestselling, tell-all memoir, “The Woman in Me.”

But she has largely retreated from the limelight, releasing very little music since her last full-length album in 2016. She posts frequently on Instagram, often showcasing impromptu dance numbers performed inside her home and elsewhere.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.