By Jose Lambiet, GossipExtra.com, for SouthFloridaReporter.com, Oct. 2, 2015 – FORT LAUDERDALE — Singer David Cassidy‘s driving woes continue.
The star of the 1970s sitcom The Partridge Family is now facing up to a year in prison in Florida and time behind bars in California after he was cited the leaving the scene of an accident in Fort Lauderdale and driving with a suspended license.
At least, this time around, witnesses said Cassidy didn’t appear impaired when the front passenger’s side of his Kia (he does, after all, have financial problems!) hit the back of a box truck.
And no one was injured.
Fort Lauderdale resident Cassidy, however, was charged with four citations, including operating a motor vehicle with an expired registration and improper lane change.
It’s another strange driving incident for the singer of I Think I Love You. His pedigree includes three DUI arrests in three states over the course of four years.
According to Florida Highway Patrol records, Cassidy was headed west on I-595 about noon Sept. 9 “at a high rate of speed” and “in and out of traffic,” according to witnesses. Cassidy’s Kia, however, tapped a box truck then stopped on the far right emergency lane near the truck.
Cassidy, 65, who was described to FHP as “a clean facial shaved older Caucasian male” in blue jeans and a gray shirt, allegedly attempted to cover the car’s tag then took off west on I-595 DESPITE A BLOWN TIRE AND DAMAGES to the car.
A witness showed troopers a photo of Cassidy’s car and the license plate, No. CPZS89, was visible. Authorities then put out a BOLO for Cassidy, who was found at the Cleveland Clinic Florida hospital in Weston.
Broward County Sheriff’s deputies didn’t have to look very far: The Kia was right by the hospital’s front entrance, according to the incident report.
Cassidy claims he provided his drivers’ license number and registration info to the truck driver and couldn’t wait for police because he had a hospital appointment unrelated to the crash.
The Broward County State Attorney’s office filed Cassidy’s citation for leaving the scene as a possible misdemeanor this week. He is set to be arraigned on the criminal charge on Oct. 27.
A conviction in Florida could fetch up to a year in prison then more time behind bars in California for the violation of probation.
In March 2014, a court in Los Angeles placed Cassidy on five years probation after he pleaded no contest to a DUI. He was also ordered to spend three months in a rehab center.
He was arrested in January of that year after blowing a .19 on the breathalyzer when he was stopped near Los Angeles International Airport.
It was his third DUI arrest since 2010.
He was picked by FHP on the Turnpike near Port St. Lucie in Nov. 2010 when a trooper observed his car swerve between lanes. He pleaded no contest and placed on one year probation plus a six-month license suspension.
In August 2013, he blew .10 at a DUI checkpoint in Upstate New York, where the limit is 0.08. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in that case and was sentenced to 50 hours of community service and the use of a alcohol-locking device on his car for a year.
Cassidy is also going through a divorce, filed for bankruptcy last year and was forced to sell his Lauderdale Beach house.
Cassidy’s criminal lawyer has yet to return calls for comment.
