Hawaii is notorious of car break-ins – something actress Lindsay Lohan learned first hand December 11 when she had her $5,000 Channel purse with her passport, $10,000 in cash and probation papers from court stolen from her rented Jeep while she was in Laie, Oahu.
Honolulu Police Department spokeperson Caroline Sluyter confirmed: “On Sunday, December 11, 2011, at approximately 1 a.m. a 25-year-old female visitor reported that her bag had been taken from a rental Jeep parked in a residential driveway in Laie, Oahu. The female reported that her bag and its contents were stolen. The bag was recovered nearby, but the contents remain missing. There are no suspects at this time. The investigation is ongoing.”
Car thieves don’t discriminated in Hawaii. Often fueled by drug addictions, they target an average of 20 visitors and residents a day on Oahu alone.
Local police try to protect residents and visitors from the persistent problem by stepping up patrols or stationing marked police cars in high theft areas, but Hawaii has among the highest property crime reports fueled in part by crystal meth usage near the highest in the nation.
While statistics show a decrease in recent years in car breakins from 10,605 in 2007, to 7,559 in 2008, to 8,594 in 2009 and
6,930 in 2010, car break ins are still a constant problem, HPD’s Sluyter said.
This is the second time in a year Lohan had her purse taken. The first break in occurred in Cannes, France, when she left her purse, passport and cash in her rental car.
The actress, who has been jailed for theft, driving while intoxicated and contempt of court in recent years, traveled to Hawaii with her sister to Hawaii to avoid the barrage of media that has followed her since her nude Playboy photos were released by a hacker ahead of schedule.
TMZ reports if she does not show up to court on Wednesday, December 14, she could have her probation revoked.
Fortunately a good Samaritan returned her purse the next day, and it still contained her passport and court papers. The $10,000 in cash, however, has gone missing, likely for good.
She should be able to make up some of that lost cash with her Playboy exclusive set to hit the online news edition on Sunday, December 11, and newsstands on December 16. The magazine reportedly paid her $1 million.
According to the OntheRedCarpet.com, “Her issue of Playboy, which includes a 10-page nude pictorial, was meant to be released in January but due to the leak, the hardcopy will be released early on December 16. … The cover features the actress straddling a red Playboy bunny logo chair wearing nothing but black heels.”
Wikipedia reports on Lohan’s background: “She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney’s 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11. Lohan gained further fame between 2003 and 2005 with leading roles in the films Freaky Friday, Mean Girls and Herbie: Fully Loaded, subsequently appearing in independent films including Robert Altman‘s A Prairie Home Companion and Emilio Estevez‘s Bobby.
“Her career was interrupted in 2007 as two driving under the influence (DUI) incidents and three visits to rehabilitation facilities led to the loss of several movie deals. Resuming her career, she guest starred in the TV series Ugly Betty in 2008, starred in the 2009 comedy Labor Pains, and appeared in Robert Rodriguez‘s Machete in 2010. Lohan launched a second career in pop music in 2004 with the album Speak and followed up with A Little More Personal (Raw) in 2005. … In April 2011, it was announced that Lohan has signed on to appear opposite John Travolta in the upcoming movie Gotti: Three Generations. She was cast to play Kim Gotti, wife of New York City mobster John Gotti Jr.. As of August 2011, Lohan’s press representative said that no agreement for her to appear had been reached.[250] Lohan is also set to appear in Mob Street from the same production team, based on a screenplay by Chazz Palminteri.”