American Idol judge Paula Abdul was fined and placed on probation after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of hit-and-run driving.
The charge stemmed from an accident last December in which her car clipped another vehicle on a San Fernando Valley freeway while she was changing lanes. The driver and passenger snapped a photo of the minor accident with a cell phone camera and wrote down the license plate number of the car, which was traced to Abdul.
“Unbeknownst to Paula, there was some minor contact between the tire of her car and another vehicle on the roadway,” said a statement from her lawyer. “Paula immediately took full responsibility.”
Abdul was not in court when she was sentenced to 24 months of informal probation. She was also ordered to pay about $900 in fines and penalties and to reimburse the other motorist $775 for the damage.