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Bynes speaks out: Officer sexually harassed me

Posted at 7:41 PM, May 26, 2013
and last updated 2013-05-26 19:41:25-04

By Greg Botelho, CNN

Editor’s note: This story contains graphic language.

(CNN) — Amanda Bynes has had a rough few days — some might say, a rough few months — landing in jail after allegedly tossing a marijuana bong out of her 36th-floor New apartment window.

On Saturday, the 27-year-old actress took to Twitter with a simple message: “Don’t believe any reports.”

And she didn’t stop there.

The New York police’s story — as related by spokesman Christopher Pisano — is that officers were called Thursday to her abode in Manhattan’s theater district after her building manager reported the 27-year-old was smoking an “illegal substance” in the lobby.

Bynes had headed back to her apartment by the time police arrived, but she let officers in when they knocked on the door, according to Pisano.

Once inside, the officers noticed a bong and other marijuana paraphernalia sitting on a coffee table, which Bynes immediately started to throw out a window.

That account from police, Bynes insists, is “all lies.”

Her story is that she was “sexually harassed by one of the cops the night before last” — the same police officer who, she wrote, ended up arresting her.

Bynes said she had opened her window “for fresh air” and didn’t throw out any drug paraphernalia, claiming the officer “lied” when he claimed she did.

Then, she alleged of the officer in her apartment, “He slapped my vagina. Sexual harassment. Big deal.”

Asked Saturday night about Bynes’ claim the unnamed police officer had sexually harassed her, New York police Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said: “As it would with any such allegation, regardless of its credibility or lack thereof, the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating it.”

The actress had more to add. Bynes said she was handcuffed, “which I resisted … then I was sent to a mental hospital. Offensive.”

“The cop sexually harassed me, they found no pot on me or bong outside my window,” Bynes tweeted. “That’s why the judge let me go.”

Police charged her with tampering with physical evidence, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of marijuana, Pisano said. Bynes was charged with endangerment because the paraphernalia could have hit someone below. According to media reports, she appeared in court Friday and was then released until her next appearance in July.

This week’s ordeal is the latest of Bynes’ run-ins with the law.

She has a DUI case pending in Southern California, while a pair of separate hit-and-run incidents against her were dismissed late last year. Earlier this month, the actress was sentenced to three years probation for driving on a suspended license.

Along the way, her once squeaky-clean image — she was a young teenager when she burst on the scene as the lead in Nickelodeon’s “The Amanda Show” — has taken a hit. After that program, Bynes starred alongside Jennie Garth in the sitcom “What I Like About You.” She later scored roles in movies, including “Hairspray” and “Easy A.”

CNN’s Jordana Ossad, Ed Payne and KJ Matthews contributed to this report.