Paris Hilton Not Just Any Inmate in Sin City

Jail officials defend giving her star treatment

Paris Hilton's not your typical jailbird.

After the socialite was busted for cocaine possession last month, she got different treatment, officials acknowledge. They won't say special treatment, though.

"Yeah, she was treated differently so I don't have a disruption of my process here at the county jail," Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Deputy Chief Jim Dixon told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "When you bring somebody in like that, everybody comes over and tries to look at them. I'd have officers attempting to keep inmates away from her. I'd have disruptions."

Hilton was rushed through the booking process after her Aug. 27 arrest, and her three-hour stay at the Clark County Detention Center was five to 21 hours shorter than that of someone else booked for the same offense.

"She was moved along out of the general area and put in isolation where nobody can actually get to her," Dixon said. "That wouldn't be fair to her. It wouldn't be fair to my officers. It wouldn't be fair to the other inmates ... To put Paris Hilton in an open dorm area with male inmates and female inmates would shut down my process."

Hilton, 29, was moved to several rooms during the process of her stay, including an isolation room – also known as a "drunk tank" – and even a sergeant's office. Booked along with her in the Sin City jail were some 207 alleged drunks, druggies, prostitutes and other riff-raff.

Jessica Murray of Bob's Bail Bonds told the newspaper her clients "are all asking me 'why can't we get out that quick.' "

"I could understand putting her in a separate room," Murray said. "But I don't understand putting her above everyone else,'' Murray said. "If you're alleged to commit a crime, you get treated like everybody else. That's my opinion.''

Hilton and boyfriend Cy Waits were arrested on the Las Vegas strip after a cop allegedly smelled marijuana coming from Waits’ Cadillac Escalade and pulled the car over. Hilton faces a felony drug possession charge, while charges have not yet been filed against Waits over the Friday incident, People reported. Waits reportedly failed a sobriety test at the time.

According to the police report, Hilton’s arresting officer allegedly saw a small plastic “bindle” containing 0.8 grams of cocaine fall out of her purse as she reached for lip balm.

Hilton is set to be arraigned before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventura on Oct. 27.

Selected Reading: Las Vegas Review-Journal, People, E!

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