Actress Amanda Bynes was placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold by California sheriff’s deputies on Monday night after she set a small fire in a stranger’s driveway.
According to Captain Don Aguilar of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, Bynes was “involved in a disturbance in a residential neighborhood last night in Thousand Oaks.” Fire officials responded shortly before 9 p.m. to a report of a gas can on fire in a driveway and after investigating the incident and speaking to Bynes, 27, they determined that she met the criteria for a 5150 psychiatric hold. The homeowners have said that they had no ties to the troubled former child star.
A 5150 order places an individual under a 72-hour involuntary psychiatric hold, during which they are given a mental health evaluation. The order under the section of the California Welfare & Institutions Code allows for the involuntary hold when someone “make[s] statements that they’re either a danger to themselves or others, or gravely disabled.”
The same provision was used in 2008 on Britney Spears when the singer’s erratic behavior sparked concern from family and officials. Aguilar said no medical aid was rendered at the scene and at this time no criminal charges have been made against Bynes.
According to TMZ, Bynes was carrying a “little red gas tank” at the time of the incident, during which she burned some of her clothing. Officials said it did not appear that the former Nickelodeon star’s actions were a deliberate attempt to set the house on fire and that there was no damage to the home, which is why Bynes is not facing arson charges. Since announcing that she was quitting acting in 2010, Bynes has been involved in a series of incidents, including several alleged hit-and-run accidents and a DUI charge.
Earlier this year she began raising eyebrows with a barrage of tweets and Instagram photos in which she showed off her half-shaved head, sent sexually suggestive messages to rapper Drake and appeared in public wearing bizarre wigs. She has also engaged in Twitter wars with Jenny McCarthy, Courtney Love and model Chrissy Teigen and was arrested for drug possession in May after allegedly throwing a bong out of her New York apartment window.
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