Celebrity Car Accidents

Los Angeles (E! Online) – Talk about the wrong stuff. Sam Shepherd was busted Saturday in Illinois for drunken driving and speeding.

The Right Stuff star told officers in the town of Normal that he had made a pitstop at a local watering hole before heading to a hotel around 2 a.m. He was pulled over for doing 46 in a 30 mph zone, and his blood-alcohol level registered twice the legal limit, police said.

Shepard posted $300 and was released from the McLean County jail a few hours later, and he presumably resumed his road trip back the Kentucky home he shares with Jessica Lange. No court date has been scheduled.

As an actor, Shepherd’s best known for his Oscar-nominated turn as Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff; other credits include Black Hawk Down, The Notebook and opposite Brad Pitt in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. As a playwright, he won a Pulitzer Prize for Buried Child. He’s also been nominated for Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe awards.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Charles Barkley was arrested on suspicion of drinking and driving early Wednesday morning.

An officer with a law enforcement task force that targets drunken driving saw the former NBA star run a stop sign around 1:30 a.m., said Gilbert police Lt. Eric Shuhandler.

Barkley declined to submit to a breath test but was given a blood test. The results weren’t immediately available.

After Barkley was processed, he was cited and released. He left in a cab, Shuhandler said.

Shuhandler said there was nothing remarkable about Barkley’s arrest and that it is customary to release people after they’ve been arrested on suspicion of DUI.

“There was nothing unusual about how he was taken into custody,” Shuhandler said. “He was treated exactly like we treat anybody else.”

Barkley was arrested in Scottsdale’s Old Town area, one of the trendiest spots in the Phoenix metro area.

Barkley played 16 NBA seasons for the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets, and played on the USA Olympic “Dream Team” in 1992 and 1996. He was an 11-time NBA All-Star and league MVP in 1993.

MALIBU, Calif. —  Charlie Sheen’s spokesman says the actor’s two young daughters are doing fine after a Mercedes-Benz sports utility vehicle they were riding in collided with a sedan on Pacific Coast Highway, sparking a multi-vehicle crash that sent one person to the hospital.

Authorities say the girls, 4-year-old Sam and 3-year-old Lola, were being driven by their nanny on Friday when a Honda Civic made a turn in front of them and was struck broadside. The force of the collision caused the Honda to spin across several lanes and hit a parked car and a pickup truck, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s traffic investigators said in a statement.

The driver of the Honda was taken to a hospital, but the extent of her injuries was not released.

“Charlie told me that it could have been worse, but the children were in the car seats,” Sheen’s spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, said Sunday.

Sheen shares custody of the girls with ex-wife Denise Richards. He has an older daughter, 25-year-old Cassandra Jade Estevez, with former girlfriend Paula Profit. He is expecting a fourth child with wife Brooke Mueller.

Former child actor Macaulay Culkin’s sister, Dakota, has passed away Wednesday after being hit by a car in Los Angeles Tuesday.

Law enforcement sources say that 29-year-old Dakota was hit after she stepped in front of a car in west Los Angeles. She was walking on Los Angeles’ Westside on Tuesday just before 11:00 AM when she stepped off a curb and was struck by the vehicle. Police say the driver stopped and tried to help her.

After suffering massive head injuries in the accident, Dakota was taken to the UCLA Medical Center, where she died of her injuries Wednesday afternoon, said Police spokesman Richard French. Macaulay’s spokeswoman, Michelle Bega, says: “We can officially confirm that the victim is Dakota Culkin. This is a terrible tragic accident. We have no further comment at this time.”

According to a report from Extra, LAPD told it that the driver was not driving drunk, was not at fault and followed all laws. So far, no arrests have been made. “The driver stopped, rendered aid, and identified himself as required by law. Detectives have determined that the driver was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, so no crime was committed,” the LAPD said in a statement.

Macaulay is perhaps best known for portraying Kevin McCallister in “Home Alone” and the title character of “Richie Rich.” At the height of his fame he was regarded as the most successful child actor since Shirley Temple.

Five of Macaulay’s siblings, Shane (born 1976), Quinn (born 1984), Kieran (born 1982), Christian (born 1987) and Rory (born 1989), also tried their hands in Hollywood. Dakota (born 1979) was the sole Culkin kid who stayed out of the spotlight.

Macaulay is the third Hollywood celebrity who has lost a family member violently in recent weeks. First US singer-actress Jennifer Hudson’s brother, mother and nephew were shot to death in October; then actor Mark Ruffalo’s brother, Scott, has died early this week after being shot in the head; and now McCauley’s sister, Dakota.