Authorities: Lindsay Lohan Violated Her Probation

By John Mitchell Posted Jan 4th 2011 11:43AM

According to authorities in California, Lindsay Lohan violated her probation by getting into a physical altercation with a former staff member at the Betty Ford Center and could face further legal ramifications if the district attorney's office determines she should face battery charges relating to the incident.

For a while, it seemed Lohan was in the clear; after initially declaring she'd seek legal comeuppance in the incident, Dawn Holland, the former Betty Ford staffer, has since declared she will not cooperate with the investigation and does not want charges filed, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said Monday. However, the department continued its investigation into the incident and will forward its findings to the district attorney, who will determine whether to charge the actress with battery. As a condition of her probation, Lohan cannot be found in violation of any law.

The news comes just one day after Lohan completed her court-ordered treatment at the Betty Ford Center and was given permission to leave the drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility (whether she has or not remains unclear).

Lohan's lawyer Shawn Chapman Holley has confirmed that an incident took place on Dec. 12, but declined to provide any details of what happened. And though Holland is "no longer cooperating with the investigation and does not wish to have charges filed," according to the Riverside sheriff's office, "It is expected that this investigation will be sent to the district attorney's office later this week."

In an interview with TMZ, Holland claimed Lohan and two other female Betty Ford patients left the facility without permission and declined breathalyzer tests upon their return. Holland claimed Lindsay became belligerent, pushed her and snatched a phone from her hand, straining her arm.

"Lindsay and two other patients had snuck out, went drinking and tried to sneak back in and they got caught," Holland told TMZ after the alleged incident. "We were told by our administration on-call to do a breathalyzer test, which she refused to do ... She was angry and out of control."

Holland has since been fired from Betty Ford for breaking confidentiality laws by identifying patients at the center in the TMZ interview, "disclosing a privileged document" and violating HIPAA laws.

"When patients come to the center for treatment, they come to a safe place where their identity is protected, where anonymity is safeguarded," the center said in a statement after Holland's dismissal.

Lohan's probation is set to end in August, and, according to CNN, she is now expected in municipal court on Feb. 1 to review her progress in fulfilling the terms of her probation. She will also appear before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elden Fox, who sentenced the actress to rehab after Judge Marsha Revel recused herself from Lohan's case this summer, on Feb. 25 for another progress hearing.

Lohan's current legal troubles stem from a three-and-a-half-year-old drunken driving case. Judge Fox mandated her stay at Betty Ford after the 'Mean Girls' starlet failed a pair of drug tests -- for cocaine and illegal Adderall use -- following her release from an inpatient rehab stay at UCLA Medical Center late last summer. Lohan was initially denied bail and taken into custody. Judge Elden Fox reportedly issued the order without hearing arguments from Lohan's lawyers, and within hours another judge overturned the ruling and the starlet was released on bail.

A few days later, however, on Sept. 27, she voluntarily entered rehab at Betty Ford. At an Oct. 22 hearing, Judge Fox ordered her to remain there through Jan. 3. "You're staying [in rehab] past the New Year's -- there's a reason for that."

Lindsay's years-long legal woes have put her career on hold. This fall, she missed opportunities to promote her role in the film 'Machete' because she was in jail and rehab and was dropped from what she'd hoped would be her comeback vehicle, the Linda Lovelace biopic 'Inferno.'

Sources close to the 'Mean Girls' actress tell PopEater that Lindsay will likely remain in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future rather than immediately relocate to her native Long Island. The actress has no film projects lined up and plans to work on her fashion line upon her release from rehab.

If she is found to have violated her probation in the Dec. 12 alleged assault incident, Lohan will likely face a harsh punishment from Judge Fox, who has said that if she violates the rules of her rehab program (which would include assaulting an employee) or fails a drug test before her next court date with him on Feb. 25, she will be jailed for 180 days.