Paris Hilton's Las Vegas mug shot released; Hotel heiress arrested for cocaine possession

08/28/2010 by Kristina Lopez

Paris Hilton was apprehended Friday night in Las Vegas, Nevada after police found cocaine in her purse, reports KABC Television, OnTheRedCarpet.com's parent company. The booking mug shot from her arrest has been released to the media.

Hilton, 29, was booked into the Clark County detention center early Saturday morning on possession of drugs. This is the third drug-related incident for Hilton in the last two months.

David Chesnoff, Hilton's lawyer, released a statement on Saturday that said: "Paris Hilton was released this morning on her own recognizance. This matter will be dealt with in the courts not in the media and I encourage people not to rush to judgment until all of the facts have been dealt with in a court of law. There will be no interviews and no more comments at this time."

There is no word yet on Hilton's court date.

The socialite was arrested after officers pulled over a car in front of the Wynn Hotel, where Hiltons friend, Cy Waits, operates a night club. Officers suspected marijuana smoke was coming from the car where Hilton was a passenger and conducted a search.

See video of Hilton questioned by police below, submitted to KABC Television:

Miss Hilton pulled out a tube of lip balm. At the same time ... a bindle of cocaine in a plastic bag came out of her purse," police Sgt. John Sheahan said at a press confrence according to The Associated Press.

Waits was later identified as the driver of the vehicle was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs.

On July 16, she was held by police on the French island of Corsica for possession of marijuana. It was less than a gram in her purse and police soon released her without pressing charges. On July 2, she was detained in South Africa for marijuana possession at the World Cup. Hilton was later cleared of those charges too and the local police apologized to her publicly for the incident.

Unlike the other previous drug incidents, Hilton has not made a comment on her Twitter page about it. Instead, she wrote at around 3 a.m., "Going to bed. Sweet dreams everyone. Xoxo Paris :)"

This incident also marks another dramatic incident for Hilton this week. On Aug. 24, Hilton said a man armed with two knives tried to break into her house, while a police spokesperson later confirmed a man who had broken into her Sherman Oaks home carrying such weapons was arrested.

"So Scary, just got woken up to a guy trying to break into my house holding 2 big knifes," Hilton wrote on her Twitter page at about 7 a.m. local time. "Cops are here arresting him."

Hilton pleaded no contest in 2007 to alcohol-related reckless driving and was sentenced to 45 days in jail. She spent 23 days behind bars.