Britney Spears Involved In Police Standoff Over Kids
Posted January 4, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Britney Spears entered a new chapter in her troubled life surrounded by paparazzi and police wanting to know more about a three-hour showdown involving her two young sons. The 26-year-old pop star was taken by ambulance from her home late Thursday after police were called to help end the standoff.
“For her own welfare, she was transferred to a local hospital for medical treatment,” Officer April Harding said early Friday, declining to elaborate. No injuries were reported.
Entertainment Tonight reported on its website that Spears was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Cedars spokeswoman Simi Singer said she could neither confirm nor deny the report, citing patient confidentiality laws.
Tara Scott, representing Spears, and Mark Vincent Kaplan, representing Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline, spent about 30 minutes in chambers Friday with Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon, who has been handling their custody dispute.
They made no comments to reporters.
Spears was conscious late Thursday when paramedics took her out of her home in a gurney and loaded her into an ambulance that left her house escorted by a row of police cars.
She appeared to arriving officers to be under the influence of an unknown substance, Officer Jason Lee told City News Service.
A horde of paparazzi chased the ambulance as it left the neighborhood, their strobes going off as they held up their cameras to the vehicle’s rear window. Another group of videographers met the ambulance at the hospital, banging on the ambulance doors.
Officers were called to Spears’ house around 8 p.m. to respond to the custody dispute over her sons, 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James, Harding said.
By about 10:30 p.m., six police cars, two ambulances and a firetruck had entered the gated-community that includes Spears’ house. Several police cars were seen in the area earlier in the night.
Spears turned over the children around 10:50 p.m., Lee said.
The singer and Federline have been involved in a long and very public custody battle. Federline has temporary custody of the children because Spears, who has limited visitation rights, has defied court orders. The couple were married in October 2004 and divorced in July.
During the past year, Spears has been photographed without underwear, and has appeared to be drunk and out of control. She shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella, spent a month in rehab and has had a handful of fender benders, including one in which she ran over a photographer’s foot.
Earlier Thursday, Spears appeared for a deposition in her custody dispute.
Spears was deposed for just 14 minutes, Kaplan told reporters after Spears left.
She called in sick for a Dec. 12 court-ordered deposition, but was photographed that day driving with a friend. She also didn’t show up for a session Wednesday, Kaplan said.
Spears’ attorneys from the firm Trope and Trope on Wednesday filed a court motion asking to be relieved due to a “breakdown” in communication with their client.
Kaplan said Spears’ attorneys were present for what became a very abbreviated session, which had been scheduled to last two hours.
“You can imagine in 14 minutes there’s not a lot of time to develop questions,” he said.
Kaplan said another deposition would be scheduled.
The life and times of Britney Spears have gone from wholesome Walt Disney Mouseketeer ears to divorce, custody battles, allegations of drug addiction and confinement in hospitals and rehab. She’s rarely out of the news and even for a woman who seems to feed on publicity, this is certainly not the kind she was expecting.
Here’s a look back at the last tumultuous year in the life of a pop diva on a sad decline.
Nov. 6, 2006
Britney files for divorce from K-Fed
Dec. 6, 2006
Britney admits she partied too hard
Jan. 6, 2007
Britney plans her comeback
Feb. 16
Britney Spears shaves her head and gets a new tattoo, then enters rehab.
Feb. 17
Britney leaves rehab
March 21
Spears out of rehab
May 18
Topless Britney thanks fans for their support
July 6
Britney apologizes for umbrella attack
Aug. 10
Spears hits car then goes shopping
Sept. 9
Britney Spears appears lethargic in much-hyped performance at MTV Video Music Awards
Sept. 21
Spears charged with misdeameanour hit and run
Oct. 1
Britney Spears loses custody of sons to Federline
Oct. 4
Britney gets visitation, not custody
Oct. 18
Judge bars Britney from seeing her kids
Oct. 30
Britney attempts comeback with new album
16259
Dec. 15
K-Fed seeks sanction against Britney
