Shia LaBeouf has been charged with misdemeanor DUI after a car accident early Sunday morning in LA. Cops said he exhibited signs of “obvious intoxication,” but an eyewitness gives a different account of the accident. Brian Perrulli told Access Hollywood (link has automatic sound) that he was heading home from work when he came across the scene. He said Shia was shocked and disoriented after the ordeal but that he didn’t seem drunk to him. According to Perrulli, the driver in the other car repeatedly told Shia to leave the scene, saying ” ‘I never saw you,” but Shia kept asserting that he needed to stay and take responsibility for the accident.
While Shia’s DUI charge remains, cops have ruled that he wasn’t at fault for the accident, in which the other driver ran a red light and Shia was taking a legal left turn, running into him and rolling over in his truck. I guess we know now why the other guy was so eager to tell Shia to take off:
“He was not at fault,” sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
Authorities are now fingering the driver of the vehicle hit by LaBeouf’s pickup. The motorist, whose identity has not been disclosed, ran a red light while LaBeouf attempted to make a legal left turn, said Whitmore. LaBeouf instead plowed into the oncoming car.
The other driver was actually cited at the scene for the moving offense that resulted in the rollover of the Indiana Jones star’s ride.
LaBeouf wasn’t responsible for the crash, his DUI count still stands.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Kristin Aloma said the actor “was exhibiting obvious signs of intoxication” and booked him on the misdemeanor charge Sunday morning. According to his booking sheet, the normally lanky actor was listed as carrying 199 pounds on 5-foot-10 frame.
LaBeouf, however, has yet to be arraigned. He was taken by ambulance from the scene to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He remains at the facility recuperating from surgery on his left hand. He is expected to make a full recovery.
[From E! Online]
Given the circumstances Shia will probably get off with a slap on the wrist. Maybe he learned his lesson though and won’t drink and drive again. He might start facing some of his demons too, because it sounds like he’s conflicted about how much he drinks. He told Details Magazine in an interview to be published in their upcoming issue that “I don’t know how to do it [drink] like a gentleman. I don’t know how to have one drink.” He also said that “it’s not something that is conducive to being a role model.” Maybe he’ll release a statement taking responsibility and admitting the massive error he made. It seems like it would be the right thing to do even after it was determined that the accident was caused by the other driver.
Here’s Shia’s car after the accident along with a photo of him at the Indiana Jones premiere on 5/21/08. Credit: WENN
He’s still @ fault for drinking and driving.
Wasn’t he busted for a dui not that long ago?
Interesting because I was in the same scenario minus the alcohol and we both were cited; the other driver for running the light and me for not exercising due caution.
Vis – That’s because the same rules don’t apply in California (they may as well be their own country), and certainly not where celebrities are concerned.
Well, Vis, you must not be a celebrity or you’d have gotten off, too. (unless you’re shannon doerty {however you spell it} Nobody knows who the hell she is anymore). 😆
Really though, I like shia. I was hoping he wouldn’t become one of these irritating young stars that think they can do whatever they want cuz they’re celebs. At least he didn’t leave the scene, which had to have been tempting since the other driver was practically begging him to.
Anyway, hopefully he will learn from this and start acting like a responsible adult instead of acting like parasite hilton or some other spoiled annoying celebrity. 🙄
😀 This was in California… right behind the Northridge mall. It was 20 some odd years ago so maybe things have changed with the law.
There are also reports coming out that he may not have been intoxicated. That witnesses at the scene say he didn’t seem drunk at all, only shook up by the crash, and by looking at the accident, I don’t blame him!
From my experience….No Fault works a little something like this…if you are uninsured, if your vehicle is unsafe, if you hvae no license…. or if you are intoxicated (etc etc etc), you were not supposed to be on the road. Had you not been on the road, the incident would not have occured. Therefore, you are responsible for being on the road when you were not supposed to be on the road and hold a portion of the responsibility. A good lawyer can make it all your fault. Just sayin.
I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. The cops don’t say if they did sobriety tests, and if they didn’t and witnesses are saying he wasn’t intoxicated then it won’t stand celebrity or not. Besides he wans’t at fault here.
I’m glad he’s ok and I love the fact that when you read his interviews he’s well spoken and understands that what he has is a gift and with it comes responsibilities and he doesn’t wave them off.
Unlike most celebs his age he shows some maturity and he takes his duties seriously.
Bravo Shia
I’ve been in a car accident where my car flipped, and I was very disoriented. Your head generally hits the ceiling, because though your seat belt keeps you from going forward it’s not always the best at keeping you completely in the seat. I actually filled out the police report in reverse and had to ask them to fix it because I was so confused afterwards…I hadn’t realized that when my car was finished flipping I was facing the opposite direction from where I had been heading!
I am a little confused as to the lack of evidence towards his DUI, but I’m glad everyone is okay.
What a ignorant way of thinking ” if you have some alcohol in your system and another car hits you then it’s your fault for being on the road” WTF is going on with you people? I bet if this happened to one of your family members you would be singing a different tune….idiots
That wreck-less driver was going to hit someone eventually, they ran a red light!
Drinking and driving is illegal folks
even if it was not his fault. his DUI count still stands
The DUI CHARGE still stands, but unless they did a blood test at the hospital that shows his blood alcohol limit at or above the legal amount, he may be cleared justifiably. Not that I am saying that drinking and driving is ok, but don’t try and convict him yourself.
Mizzmish, first they didn’t say how much alcohol content was in his blood, so he could have been very lightly drunk, or heavily drunk, we don’t know. Second, he was making a LEGAL right turn, and third, the other guy ran the red light and caused the accident. Yes he was at fault for drunk driving, and will have a DUI misdemeanor on his record, but the accident itself was not his fault.
Drinking and driving is illegal, yeah, but it’s considered a misdemeanor until someone dies in the accident.