Fresh from a stumble at the Grammys and muffing the national anthem at the Super Bowl, singer Christina Aguilera was arrested early today near the Sunset Strip on suspicion of being drunk in public but will not be prosecuted, authorities said in California Aguilera, 30, was "extremely intoxicated" when a car driven by her boyfriend was stopped at about 2:45 a.m. on Clark Street, Los Angeles County sheriffs Deputy Bill McSweeney said.
Sheriffs spokesman Steve Whitmore said Aguilera "didnt really understand where she was" but was cooperative. "She was not belligerent in any way whatsoever," Whitmore said. Deputies saw the Mustang "burn rubber" and fishtail onto a street, he said. The noise could be heard 100 feet away and constituted an "exhibition of speed" that prompted deputies to immediately stop the car, Whitmore said.
They smelled alcohol on the breath of 25-year-old Matthew Rutler, and a field sobriety test found him to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.09 percent, Whitmore said. In California, a driver is legally under the influence at or above 0.08 percent. The car was stopped just off the Sunset Strip, not far from such famous nightspots as Whiskey A Go-Go and the Viper Room.