Lindsay Lohan arrested in New York, accused of punching woman

Lindsay Lohan was arrested outside a New York nightclub on an assault charge early Thursday after she punched another woman in the face, police said, marking another legal dustup for the 26-year-old “Mean Girls” actress.

Lohan and the 28-year-old unidentified woman had some sort of a dispute inside the club Avenue in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood around 4 a.m., police said.

Lohan, who has faced a series of legal and financial troubles in recent years, punched the woman in the face multiple times, said New York Police Sergeant John Buthorn, adding that the victim sustained “minor, minor injuries.”

Lohan was arrested on a third-degree misdemeanor assault charge, police said.

She was released from police custody later on Thursday morning. Wearing a green, knee-length dress, black tights and high heels, Lohan was hustled from NYPD’s 10th Precinct House with a personal security guard’s blazer draped over her head and into a waiting SUV, which quickly drove away.

She will have to return to court at a later date to face the charge, police said. Calls and an email to her publicist were not immediately returned.

The arrest came during an already rough week for Lohan, whose latest performance as Hollywood screen legend Elizabeth Taylor in the TV movie “Liz & Dick” was panned by critics. Cable TV channel Lifetime said on Monday that a modest 3.5 million Americans watched the film that premiered last weekend.

Earlier this month she canceled an in-depth interview with ABC’s Barbara Walters, who said she suspected the actress’ publicity team pulled the plug knowing Walters would ask tough questions.

Lohan’s recent visits to New York have been peppered with run-ins with police and public spats.

Last month police were called to the Long Island home of Lohan’s mother, Dina Lohan, where she and her mother had become involved in a loud, early-morning argument. Nassau County Police left the scene without making any arrests.

In September Lohan was arrested in Manhattan after a pedestrian told police that her Porsche had struck him in an alley.

She was initially charged with leaving the scene of an accident, a misdemeanor, but a late-October court date was canceled and another date was not scheduled, an indication prosecutors decided not to proceed with that case.

Also in September, she scuffled with a man at a New York hotel over what media reports described as her demand that photographs he had taken of her be deleted from his cellphone.