Mystery Passenger-Driver Is Focus of
Malibu’s Latest DUI Auto Saga
• Name of Other Person in Mercedes
during Barron Hilton’s Arrest Is Being Kept under Wraps
•
Now that Ferrari Guy, Bo Stefan
Eriksson, has been deported to his native
Sweden, Malibu is ready for a new car story. While the latest
saga may not be making headlines around the world, it has the
celebrity media abuzz. Much of the buzz, however,
appears to be in error.
How much error is still unclear,
as local law enforcement agencies are staying mum about
some specifics surrounding the escapades of a member of the
Hilton clan for whom driving under-the-influence arrests appear
to be family rites of passage.
As previously reported, Barron Hilton, 18,
who lives with his parents in Beverly Hills, and is
described by none other than the Los Angeles County
Sheriff’s Department as the “younger brother
of Paris Hilton,” was arrested in Malibu on Tuesday,
Feb. 12, for driving under the influence.
Sheriff’s deputies had received
a call that a vehicle was being driven erratically near Latigo
Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway just before 8
a.m., according to a press statement that the Malibu Surfside
News had to request by e-mail, a new procedure, according
to veteran journalists.
A deputy’s report states that the
driver of a second vehicle on Pacific Coast Highway reported
witnessing that Hilton, driving a black Mercedes Benz, was
allegedly weaving on the road and, at times, driving on
the wrong side of the highway.
The witness followed the vehicle until the
young scion stopped at Corral Canyon Road and PCH and got
out of the car. The witness, according to the report, then told
Hilton to sit on a bus bench and wait for sheriff’s
deputies.
When deputies arrived, they said they
conducted a drunk driving investigation and arrested
Hilton for driving under the influence. He was also
alleged to be in possession of a fake driver license.
Hilton was booked at Lost Hills
Sheriff’s Station where he was held overnight, then
released on bail. It was reported that Hilton had a .14 blood
alcohol reading. In California, .08 is considered legal
intoxication for drivers over 21. For drivers under 21, any
blood alcohol level constitutes legal intoxication.
That’s the part of the incident that
involves Hilton. That information, according to Sgt.
Phil Brooks, the Lost Hills traffic liaison, is being turned
over to the L.A. District Attorney’s office. A
spokesperson for the DA’s office told The News
Tuesday that nothing has been filed with them yet, and they
cannot put the matter under review until the material is
received.
There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of
mystery so far. Where things get a little murkier is with the
California Highway Patrol’s part of the case, which
involves Hilton’s female passenger, whose name,
according to Officer Leon Hines, the media liaison for
West Valley Office of CHP, cannot be released to the media.
Hines says this isn’t a case of
celebrity coddling, but the passenger, reported to be 19,
cannot be named because no arrests have been made in an
ongoing investigation. Hines refuted media reports attributed
to him that the passenger was Skye Peters, the daughter of film
producer Jon Peters, who is sometimes described as the
god-daughter of local Barbra Streisand. Skye Peters and
Hilton made headlines last December when the pair were found by
police at the Bel Air Hotel after being reported missing.
It is being alleged that this unidentified
female may have been driving the car, which is registered to a
third party also unidentified, when it was involved in a
collision prior to Hilton taking the wheel.
If the woman is well known, one can’t
tell from the name being circulated, but Hines says the
possibility of a fake driver license hasn’t been ruled
out.
What Hines did disclose is that the victim
in the alleged collision identified the female as the
driver when the accident occurred at about 6:30 a.m., earlier
that Tuesday morning.
According to Hines, the female driver was
heading west in PCH in lane one at an unknown speed, while
the victim was heading west in lane two. The woman
drove into lane two and the right side mirror of the Mercedes
hit the door of the victim’s Ford pickup.
Hines said the woman and Hilton switched
seats at some point after this incident, but when is not clear
from the report.
Further complicating the case is an injury
report made by a complainant the day after the DUI arrest,
which Brooks said is “puzzling” as there were five
deputies at the scene when Hilton was arrested and nothing was
said about an employee at the service station having being
injured when they were there.
The complainant alleges that he was hit by
the Mercedes when it pulled into the service station. This
matter is under separate investigation.
This latest story may not feature a
million-dollar-plus Ferrari or a spectacular crash, but
it’s going to have to do until something better comes
along.
