This Script Isn't New in Malibu
Even before Mel Gibson's arrest on suspicion of drunk driving last month, the tony coastal hamlet of Malibu had a rich history of celebrities and their brushes with the law.
Before Gibson, there were arrests involving Nick Nolte, Robert Downey Jr., Gary Busey and rocker Tommy Lee. Then there was Britney Spears driving on Pacific Coast Highway with her baby in her lap, fleeing paparazzi staking out her local Starbucks.
And that doesn't include times when celebrities have been victims of aggressive photographers, stalkers and others (as when Sean Penn hit one of several prowlers with a bottle of tofu salad dressing to defend himself and his then-wife, Madonna).
"There's a misconception that we're a town filled with celebrities and several have drug and alcohol problems," said Malibu Mayor Ken Kearsley, a retired teacher who's lived in the city 44 years. "Most people are working stiffs, not that celebrities aren't working stiffs too."
The dozens of paparazzi who regularly stake out Malibu's restaurants, coffeehouses, dry cleaners and even supermarkets might disagree with the mayor's description of his town.
But for every celebrity who makes the police blotter, there are many residents who don't. The town is a true Hollywood colony, home to Spears and other young stars as well as entertainment veterans including Barbra Streisand, David Geffen and Cher.
Sheriff Department officials admit that patrolling an area of great wealth, which contains so many famous citizens, can be a challenge.
The Office of Independent Review, the oversight body for the department, is investigating whether authorities showed Gibson favoritism when he was arrested July 28. Sheriff's officials initially said Gibson was arrested "without incident," though it later came out that the star had tried to escape, hurled anti-Jewish slurs and threatened the arresting deputy.
"We deal with them like we do the rest of the public: treat them with dignity and enforce the law if they're committing a crime," said Sheriff's Chief Neal Tyler, who oversees the Malibu-Lost Hills sheriff's station. "It's not necessarily as challenging and intimidating and exciting to deal with them as the public might think."
