Anne Heche Crash: LAPD Looking at Possible Drug Use

Gene Maddaus
·2 min read
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Updated below: The LAPD has ceased its investigation, after Heche was declared brain dead.

The LAPD is investigating whether Anne Heche was under the influence of drugs when she crashed her car into a house in Mar Vista last Friday, leaving her in a coma with severe burns.

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Heche’s blood showed the presence of narcotics, said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Jeff Lee. But the blood draw was taken after Heche had been treated at the hospital, raising the possibility that the drugs had been administered as part of her treatment. A second test will have to be done to rule out that possibility.

Heche is in “extreme critical condition,” her representatives said on Monday. Heche crashed her Mini Cooper into a house in the 1700 block of Walgrove Avenue in West Los Angeles, starting a fire that took more than an hour to extinguish.

TMZ reported on Thursday that Heche was under the influence of cocaine at the time of the crash, as well as possibly fentanyl. The outlet reported that the investigators were trying to determine if the fentanyl was a byproduct of her hospital treatment.

The LAPD said Thursday that it would present a completed investigation to either the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office or the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office for possible charges. The city attorney’s office handles misdemeanor prosecutions in the city. TMZ had also reported that investigators were looking at the case as a felony DUI, because an occupant of the home had been injured. But the department said it had not made that determination.

“As of this press release there is no definite direction of which prosecutorial office will be presented with this case until all appropriate and necessary evidence has been gathered accordingly,” the department said.

The department also stressed that the investigation is ongoing and that it does not yet have a final toxicology report.

Update, 2 p.m. Friday: Heche has been declared brain dead. The LAPD said Friday that it will make no further investigative efforts, and the case will not be presented to prosecutors.

“Any information or records that have been requested prior to this turn of events will still be collected as they arrive as a matter of formalities and included in the overall case,” said Officer Matthew Cruz. “When a person suspected of a crime expires, we do not present for filing consideration.”

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