Justin Bieber charged over ‘drag racing’

Justin Bieber's mug shot, taken while he was being held at Miami Dade County Jail. Picture: AP

Wearing the standard orange jumpsuit, the 19-year-old appeared via video link as a judge at Miami-Dade County court in Florida set his bond at $2,500 (£1,500).

Earlier, a police mugshot of the Canadian star was released showing him smiling.

Bieber – who admitted he had been drinking, taken anti-depressants and smoked marijuana – is also accused of “drag racing” on Miami Beach.

Police claim the singer had been racing a yellow rented Lamborghini against another sports car in the early hours.

Chief of police Raymond Martinez said the star resisted arrest, although he had done so “without violence”. The singer is also accused of launching a foul-mouthed rant at officers who arrested him.

Mr Martinez said: “He did acknowledge that he did take a prescription medication and he had been smoking marijuana and that he did consume a beer.”

Bieber, whose hits include Boyfriend and Beauty And A Beat, was arrested after police saw two cars racing at 4:09am local time yesterday and Mr Martinez said officers “estimated he was going anywhere up to 55 to 60 miles an hour”.

The arresting officer said the singer had “bloodshot eyes” and added that he could smell alcohol on his breath.

He added that he asked Bieber to take his hands out of his pockets and the teenager replied: “I ain’t got no f****** weapons – why do you have to search me? What the f*** is this about?”.

The police also issued a photograph of Bieber on their Twitter account which showed the singer smiling while wearing an orange prison-issue jumpsuit.

Two vehicles had apparently been used to block off an area for the drag race, with Bieber in a Lamborghini worth around £175,000.

R ‘n’ B singer Khalil, the driver of a red Ferrari also believed to be involved in the race, was also arrested.

Video footage has been broadcast on TV apparently showing Bieber behind the wheel of his car being followed by fans shortly before the arrest.

Mr Martinez said the two cars “were starting from a stop position and they were accelerating up to a high rate of speed and going almost double the speed limit in that area”.

The arrest comes on the back of months of scrapes for the singer, who announced to his fans last month that he was retiring, only to explain it away as a joke shortly afterwards.

Last year, the singer disappointed fans in the UK by showing up to gigs late, which left many of his young followers having to leave soon after he started performing to catch trains home. He was also involved in a scuffle outside his hotel in London.

Detectives searched Bieber’s California home recently looking for surveillance footage, while investigating whether he was involved in throwing eggs at a neighbour’s home. A member of his entourage was arrested on suspicion of drug possession after the incident.