Birthdate: June 11, 1986
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
Soundbyte: "I want my audience to know me for my work, not because of who I'm dating or what drugs I'm on or what club I went to."
November 4, 2007: After putting some time in at a Chicago club, Shia was arrested at a Walgreen's after a stand-off with a security guard. He was alone, there was no scene and nobody was hurt. He was asked to leave, didn't, and was arrested. The charges were eventually dropped; the most interesting thing to come out of this story is his mugshot, which is quite cute.
Sometime in March, 2008: a warrant is issued for Shia's arrest after he bailed on a court appearance. The crime? Unlawful smoking in Burbank, California. A bench warrant was issued after neither Shia nor his lawyer showed up to court, but the charge was dismissed after Shia coughed up $500.
Up until now, Shia's run-ins with the law have been boring at best. That all changed early Sunday morning, when Shia was arrested and charged with drunk driving. Apparently he made an illegal left turn, causing another vehicle to crash into his Ford F-150, flipping it upside down. In their statement, police said it was "immediately apparent" that Shia was drunk.
WWTDD reports: A witness tells us he heard a loud crash around 245 AM, then the sound of Shia's truck rolling over. The witness said he heard what he thought was a girl screaming "F**k," among other things. When he got down to scene, Shia was already out of the car and the female riding with him was crawling out of the drivers side of the truck. The truck was smoking, making noise and still running. The driver of the other car was also out of the car by this time. Shia and the female stood over by a wall while people were checking to see if everyone was okay. The witness said unlike most of the wrecks he's seen in the dangerous intersection, no one was cursing or yelling at each other. It took the cops 4-5 minutes to arrive at the scene. Two ambulances -- along with one fire truck -- showed up, and all parties involved walked to an ambulance unassisted. There were no breathalyzers or tests done at the scene.
Fortunately for everyone no serious injuries were sustained, although Shia screwed his left hand up enough to require extensive surgery. As a result, he'll be off work for about a month, which I'm sure isn't going over too well on the set of Transformers 2, which Shia is currently filming.
"Attorneys for Mr. LaBeouf confirm that an automobile accident involving an additional party occurred early morning in Los Angeles on July 27, 2008," the actor's publicist said in a statement. "Shia is currently recovering from extensive hand surgery with plans to return to work on the set of Transformers 2 within one month. No further comment will be issued at this time."
WWTDD is also reporting that the charges against Shia have been knocked down from felony DUI to misdemeanor DUI. He follows that statement with, Based on every other case of celebrities breaking the law in L.A. by the time this is done he’ll be ticketed for illegal parking, a sentiment I'm starting to share, too.
Or he'll spend like 18 punishing minutes in jail...
It's a shame, as he seemed like someone on the rise, and I would have hoped Hollywood could spawn one or two young actors who weren't screwups.
Posted by: kittenpie | Monday, July 28, 2008 at 07:28 PM