TMZ, which broke the Mel Gibson drunk driving scandal Friday, is reporting that the actor was stopped two previous times for driving recklessly in Malibu — but was allowed to leave without a ticket or arrest.
Gibson was arrested on Friday for suspicion of driving under the influence on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, driving 87 miles an hour. The deputy who arrested Gibson, James Mee, was ordered to sanitize his arrest report to make it appear as if Gibson’s arrest was “without incident.” But, as we known, the report states Gibson was abusive, violent and vulgar, and even attempted to escape authorities.
Now, TMZ has learned that three years ago, Gibson was driving 74 miles an hour on the Pacific Coast Highway, one mile from his house, when he was pulled over by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy. Sources say Gibson avoided eye contact during the traffic stop, and while the deputy was suspicious of Gibson’s sobriety, he let him leave.
Then, last year, Gibson was stopped again, after driving 64 miles an hour on the Pacific Coast Highway (where the speed limit is 45). Sources say he was on his cell phone the entire time he was detained by the deputy, and ultimately was let go without a citation.
As for this Friday’s arrest, TMZ has confirmed that the deputy was ordered by superiors to re-write the arrest report and eliminate all references to Gibson’s bad conduct and anti-Semitic remarks. Sources say Gibson told the arresting deputy that he was leaving home just after 2 a.m. and heading to his brother’s house. The arresting deputy found a bottle of tequila in the car, 3/4 full, in a brown paper bag.
Gibson told the deputy that the bottle wasn’t his but that he’d “had a little bit.”
The actor, who issued a statement over the weekend suggesting he was not of sound mind when he uttered the anti-Semitic tirade and engaged in abusive behavior, was drunk but in control of his senses. At one point, Gibson was “jumping like a monkey” on a steel cage and told the arresting deputy, “I’m not going to hurt you physically. I’m gonna hurt you. I’m gonna make you lose.”
Deputies at the Sheriff’s station were star struck by Gibson, and a number of them went to Gibson’s holding cell to get a look at him. Sadly for the deputies, a mounted camera in the station shows them fawning over Gibson, and some of the officers who were caught on tape have been warned that they might be subject to discipline.