Paris Hilton Arrested for Cocaine Possession in Las Vegas

The heiress and socialite is once again in the center of the media's attention.

Her newest party problem? A run-in with the Las Vegas law.

On Friday, Paris Hilton was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine. The situation started when she and Vegas club mogul and boyfriend Cy Waits were cruising down a Las Vegas street in his black Cadillac Escalade.

They were pulled over just before 11:30 p.m. by a motorcycle officer, who claimed he smelled and saw what he believed to be marijuana smoke. As more police officers arrived -- of course the crowd -- quickly grew bigger.

For her privacy, Hilton requested that they move the questioning inside the Wynn Resort, according to Police Sgt. John Sheenan. During the questioning, Hilton reached into her purse and pulled out a tube of lip balm. At the same time, a plastic bag containing a small amount of cocaine fell from the purse as well.

Officer Marcus Martin characterized the cocaine as a "small amount," or a package of the size usually associated with personal use.

The hotel heiress was booked, photographed, and fingerprinted at the Clark County Jail, and released without bail just before 3 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Her boyfriend, Cy Waits, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and was released after posting $2,000 bail on Saturday afternoon.

Court dates for the pair have not yet been released. In any case, if Hilton is convicted of the charge, she will likely be given probation.

Paris Hilton's attorney, David Chesnoff, said as of Saturday morning that he is still gathering facts regarding the arrest. Later, he released a comment saying:

"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."

Paris made headlines earlier this week when a man wielding knives tried to break into her Sherman Oaks home. The man, who was later identified as 31-year-old Nathan Lee Parada, has been charged with a felony count of attempted burglary .

Sources Cited:
Yahoo- AP
latimes.com