Justin Bieber arrested 'drag-racing while intoxicated'

MIAMI -- Pop prince Justin Bieber was arrested for drag racing while intoxicated Thursday, Miami police said, in what was only the Canadian singer's latest brush with US law.

Authorities in Miami Beach, Florida reported that, at the time of his arrest, 19-year-old Bieber was driving a rented Lamborghini under the influence of either drugs or alcohol.

"Bieber was arrested at 4:11 am (0911 GMT) Miami Beach police spokeswoman Vivian Hernandez told AFP.

Miami Beach Police Chief Raymond Martinez told US media that Bieber was incoherent at the time of his arrest, and was unable to produce a valid driver's license.

A police report published in US media revealed that he failed a sobriety test, saying that Bieber "did not perform to standards."

He also exhibited "a flushed face, bloodshot eyes, and the odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath," the arresting officer wrote.

Miami Beach Police added via Twitter that they had also arrested the rapper Khalil Amir Sharieff in the same incident.

News reports said Sharieff had been driving a red Ferrari while racing against Bieber's yellow Lamborghini.

Hernandez, meanwhile, told AFP that, at the time of his arrest, Bieber was with "a young lady" whose identity she declined to reveal.

The police spokeswoman said that no bond had been set so far for Bieber, who over the last few days has kept a high profile while visiting South Florida.

News reports this week said he shelled out tens of thousands of dollars at the local King of Diamonds strip club on Monday night.

Police said Bieber was arrested without incident -- although police were hard-pressed at first halt him, given the speed he was traveling.

"When the cars are going that fast, it takes a while to catch up," said Martinez.

The police report said that he was traveling close to 60 miles (95 kilometers) per hour, about twice the posted speed on the residential street.

The pop star's crew reportedly had blocked off the road with their cars to create an improvised drag strip.

Bieber was brought first to a local police station, and was to be taken later Thursday to the county jail for booking.

Meanwhile, authorities in nearby Opa-locka were investigating whether an officer improperly gave Bieber and his entourage a police escort through traffic after he landed at the local airport this week.

The drag racing incident is one in a long line of controversial headlines which have tarnished the once clean-cut image of Bieber, who has sold more than 12 million albums since emerging on the music scene in 2009 as a teen sensation.

Just last week, police searched Bieber's Los Angeles mansion over an egg-throwing attack, seized illegal drugs and arrested one of the singer's associates.

The Canadian teen idol was accused by a neighbor of causing thousands of dollars in damage to a neighbor's house after pelting it with eggs.

News reports said that in July, authorities at the US-Canada border confiscated marijuana and drug paraphernalia from one of Bieber's tour buses. He was not on board at the time, media reported.

He also attracted criticism on a recent tour of Australia after allegedly spraying graffiti on a hotel wall.

Also in July, in a breach of decorum if not the law, Bieber was filmed urinating into a restaurant's mop bucket.

He then grabbed a bottle of cleaning liquid and squirted a photo of Bill Clinton that the owners of the establishment had put on their wall, shouting curses about the former US president.

A short time later he apparently reached out to Clinton to apologize, tweeting: "@billclinton thanks for taking the time to talk Mr. President. Your words meant alot. #greatguy."

During a visit to Amsterdam last April, Bieber offended again at the house of Holocaust victim Anne Frank, writing in the guest book that "Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber."

"Belieber" is the term used to describe Bieber's legions of adoring, mostly pre-teen female fans.

A tour of South America last year also ran into turbulence, with allegations that he tagged the wall of a Rio de Janeiro hotel and failed to pay a bill in a Buenos Aires nightclub.

Bieber caused offense yet again by stepping on an Argentine flag thrown onto a stage during a concert. He was evicted from a luxury hotel in Buenos Aires after a room was damaged. -- Agence France-Presse