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Amanda Bynes Arrested After Hurling Bong Out Apartment Window, Cops Say

By  Aidan Gardiner Irene Plagianos and Mathew Katz | May 24, 2013 8:54am | Updated on May 24, 2013 12:54pm

 Starlet Amanda Bynes was arrested in New York City on Thursday May 23, 2013.
Amanda Bynes Arrested For Weed Possession
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MIDTOWN — Troubled starlet Amanda Bynes was arrested at a Midtown high-rise Thursday evening after she was caught smoking pot in the building's lobby and chucked a bong out her 36th-floor apartment window, cops said.

Police were summoned to The Biltmore, a luxury apartment building on West 47th Street, after a building employee caught Bynes smoking marijuana in the lobby about 7 p.m., an NYPD spokesman said.

Bynes, a onetime child actress who has recently made headlines for her increasingly bizarre behavior, had returned to her apartment upstairs by the time officers arrived, the spokesman said.

She let the officers in, but once inside they saw a bong in plain view. After picking up on their reaction, Bynes panicked, snatched it up and chucked it out a window, the spokesman said.

No one was injured by the bong, but Bynes was immediately taken into custody, the spokesman said.

The starlet was charged with reckless endangerment, attempted tampering of physical evidence and unlawful possession of marijuana in Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday afternoon.

The disheveled Bynes, who appeared disoriented, wore a stringy blonde wig and gray sweatpants, with the middle fingernail on her left hand painted bright pink.

Before her appearance, the actress begged reporters not to take any pictures of her in court.

"I don't want any photos," she announced. "No press are allowed in here."

Prosecutor Chikaelo Ibeabuchi told the judge that Bynes told cops the supposed bong was "just a vase" before tossing it out the window.

"The defendant was observing rolling a marijuana cigarette and throwing a bong out of the 36th-floor window...where there were people below," Ibeabuchi said.

Bynes' lawyer, Andrew Friedman, claimed that a bong was never recovered by police and that cops followed her illegally into her apartment.

"She has filed a complaint with Internal Affairs for inappropriate action by the Police Department," he said.

The judge, Neil Ross, released Bynes without bail, but he gave her a stern warning that if she got in any more trouble or missed a court date, she'd pay the price.

"I do want to make sure you understand if you get arrested again and you appear before me, I'm going to be setting very, very significant bail. Is that understood?," the judge asked Bynes.

"Okay," Bynes replied.

She's scheduled to return to court July 9.

Bynes rose to fame as a star on Nickelodeon's kids comedy show "All That."

Last year she was arrested in Los Angeles for drunk driving and has been taking to social media to post near-naked photos of herself and pick fights with other celebrities and journalists.

Bynes didn't say anything as she was hustled out the back door of the courthouse to a yellow cab. A lawyer gave her $20 in cab fare.

"Do you need money?" he said.

"I have none," the starlet replied.