Paula Abdul charged with hit-and-run driving

Thursday, March 24th 2005, 2:20 pm

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ ``American Idol'' judge Paula Abdul was charged Thursday with hit-and-run driving for allegedly fleeing after her car clipped another vehicle on a freeway last December.

The city attorney's office filed the misdemeanor count, which carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

A message left for Abdul's spokeswoman wasn't immediately returned.

Authorities contend Abdul was driving Dec. 20 on a highway about 15 miles northwest of downtown when she changed lanes and struck another vehicle, causing minor damage.

The driver and passenger snapped a photograph with a cellular phone camera and wrote down the license plate number of the car, which was traced to Abdul, city attorney's office spokesman Frank Mateljan said.

The National Enquirer and TV show ``Celebrity Justice,'' citing sources they didn't identify, reported that Abdul told highway patrol investigators her car couldn't have been involved because it was in the repair shop that day. However, authorities reportedly found that the car went in for repairs the following day.

``We're not able to comment'' on those reports, said Ricardo Quintero, a highway patrol spokesman.