The Skinny on Nicole Richie's DUI Bust

As we were telling you yesterday, Nicole Richie was arrested in the wee hours of morning on Monday for driving under the influence. The California Highway Patrol in Burbank, California was alerted by a motorcyclist who saw Nicole's SUV drive against traffic on the 134 freeway.

When the police officers arrived at the scene, they found the petite socialite alone in her vehicle (that was now facing the right way) and talking on her cell phone. A police statement said that she was 'very cooperative', although 'disoriented and unresponsive', up to the point of having to be helped 'out of the car' and put on the passenger seat.

Apparently, Nicole failed two field sobriety tests and immediately told the officers that she had taken a prescription painkiller Vicodin and smoked marijuana before getting behind the wheel. She also stated that she had been following one of her friends on the freeway when she 'got lost' and didn't know in which direction to go anymore.

Miss Richie was taken to Glendale, California, where she was briefly jailed and had her mug shot taken. A few hours later, and after her high-powered lawyer Howard Weitzman paid the $15,000 bail, she was free to go home.

The starlet's publicist was still not available for comment and the police statement did not specify whether charges will be pressed against her. It did say, however, that no drugs or alcohol containers were found in her vehicle and that, at the time of the arrest, she weighed a meager 38 kg, while her driving license said she was 45.