By Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times –
LOS ANGELES—City prosecutors charged singer Bobby Brown on Thursday with multiple misdemeanors in connection with his arrest in Tarzana this week on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Brown, who got his start with the R&B group New Edition, was charged with driving under the influence with a prior and refusing to take a chemical test, driving on a restricted license due to alcohol/drugs and operating a vehicle without a required ignition interlock device, said Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.
Brown, ex-husband of the late Whitney Houston, was arrested early Wednesday on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, his second such arrest in the San Fernando Valley in about seven months.
Los Angeles police officers pulled Brown over near a Valley intersection about 1 a.m. When they approached him, they smelled alcohol, authorities said. Brown was booked and released.
In March, he was pulled over in the San Fernando Valley after police saw him talking on his cell phone. Authorities arrested him after administering a field sobriety test. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor driving under the influence in connection with that arrest and was sentenced to three years’ probation.
The March arrest came four days after the Los Angeles County coroner’s office publicly released the results of its autopsy on Houston.
Brown is due in Van Nuys Superior Court on Nov. 16. If convicted of the misdemeanor charges, he could face a year in jail and/or $7,000 in fines. He also may face up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $610 for violating probation for the March arrest.
