Lindsay Lohan charged in June traffic accident

Lindsay Lohan was charged Thursday with three misdemeanors for allegedly lying to Santa Monica police in connection with a June traffic accident on Pacific Coast Highway, authorities said.

The charges came hours after the actress was arrested in New York on suspicion of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, after she allegedly punched a woman in the face at Club Avenue in Manhattan’s fashionable meatpacking district.

Santa Monica prosecutors weighed charges against Lohan for weeks after police said they found evidence that she lied when she said she was not behind the wheel of a Porsche that collided with a dump truck.

Santa Monica Police Sgt. Richard Lewis told The Times earlier this month that the department’s investigation had determined that Lohan was driving the Porsche, contradicting statements the actress made to law enforcement officers after the crash. She was charged Thursday with obstructing an investigation, giving false information to an officer and reckless driving.

The charges related to the Santa Monica case mean an automatic revocation of her 2011 probation in connection with a conviction for shoplifting from a Venice jewelry store.

Lohan has already been sent to jail several times for violating the terms of her probation. But she eventually complied with the rules set down by L.A. County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner.

More recently, the 26-year-old actress has been spending time in New York, where she has been part of several law enforcement investigations. In September, the actress claimed she was choked by a political aide in a New York hotel room. Charges against the man were dropped.

She was then the subject of an investigation when she was accused of clipping a man with her car outside another Manhattan nightclub. No charges were filed in that case.

In October, police were called to a reported domestic disturbance at Lohan’s mother’s home in Mineola, N.Y., after she had been arguing with her mother. The incident did not result in any arrests or prosecutions.

Thursday’s incident occurred inside Club Avenue. Police said Lohan was sitting inside a black SUV when officers arrived and arrested her about 4 a.m.

Lohan was not injured and the alleged victim, whose injuries were not disclosed, refused medical treatment at the scene, officials said.

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Times staff writer Joseph Serna contributed to this report.