Paris Hilton released after cocaine arrest: lawyer

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Socialite, celebrity TV and Web site favorite Paris Hilton has been released by Las Vegas police after her arrest for possessing cocaine on Friday night, her lawyer said on Saturday.

"Paris Hilton was released this morning on her own recognizance. This matter will be dealt with in the courts, not in the media and I encourage people not to rush to judgment until all of the facts have been dealt with in a court of law.

"There will be no interviews and no more comments at this time," lawyer David Chernoff said in a statement posted on the celebrity website TMZ.com.

Hilton, 29, a reality TV star and a staple of celebrity red carpets, was arrested in Las Vegas after a traffic stop during which police said they found an undisclosed amount of cocaine was in her purse.

Photographers snapped pictures of police arresting Hilton on the busy Las Vegas strip.

It was the second drug-related incident for Hilton in two months. She was detained after a World Cup soccer match in South Africa in July on suspicion of marijuana possession.

Hilton was swiftly released without charge after South African police said the marijuana was in the possession of a friend accompanying Hilton to the soccer match.

In the Las Vegas incident, Hilton was reportedly a passenger in the car. The driver, said to be her boyfriend, nightclub manager Cy Waits, was charged with driving under the influence.

After her release from jail, Hilton sent a message on her Twitter account saying she was going to bed, but not mentioning the arrest. Hilton's publicist did not return calls for comment on Saturday.

TMZ.com, citing sources close to Hilton, said she is saying that the purse in which police say they found the cocaine does not belong to her.

Hilton, the great-granddaughter of Hilton hotels founder Conrad Hilton, has worked as a model, singer, actress, fashion designer and reality TV star. She runs multimillion-dollar businesses based on her name including clothing lines, fragrances and wine.

She famously spent three weeks in a Los Angeles jail in 2007 for violating her probation in an earlier reckless driving charge.

(Reporting by Eric Beech, Jill Serjeant and Jim Christie; editing by Eric Walsh and Todd Eastham)