Amanda Bynes Sectioned After 'Trouser Fire' Jul 24th 2013, 09:05
American actress Amanda Bynes has been hospitalised for a mental health evaluation after she was seen with her trousers on fire in the driveway of a home in Los Angeles.
Police who responded to an emergency call said the 27-year-old started the fire herself with petrol and officers concluded she should be detained and evaluated for her own safety.
Andrew Liverpool said he spotted Bynes as he was driving past.
"It's dark, it's 8.45 and I just see her laying down," he said. "Stomach up and her pant legs on fire, a trail of, you know, fire and gas, and I pull over."
Celebrity gossip website TMZ reported that she was arrested shortly afterwards, having rushed into a store in Thousand Oaks carrying her pet dog drenched in petrol.
Ms Bynes has appeared in wigs at a number of court appearances Surveillance video from the store purportedly shows her running into an employee and the website quoted the store owner as saying she tried to wash the Pomeranian in a sink before rushing out.
The former Nickelodeon actress has had several recent run-ins with police.
In December, she resolved a hit-and-run case after settling out of court with other drivers and last year she was charged with driving whilst disqualified after she was banned following two further hit-and-run cases.
In May this year she was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, reckless endangerment and attempted tampering with physical evidence after she allegedly threw a bong out of her apartment window in front of police.
She also pleaded not guilty to drink driving in a separate case.
Bynes has repeatedly turned up for her court appearances in coloured wigs, adding to concern about her activity.
She was one of the biggest actors on children's TV in the 1990s and later won four consecutive Kid’s Choice Awards for best television actress, the first for her role in children's comedy show All That and the others for The Amanda Show.
Bynes, who grew up in Thousand Oaks, also appeared in the films Hairspray, Big Fat Liar and What A Girl Wants.
Before her career began to decline she also starred in several television films.
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