TV host Gary Collins charged with misdemeanor DUI
Published 4:47 pm Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Gary Collins was charged Monday with misdemeanor driving under the influence stemming from a traffic accident that police blamed on an 89-year-old motorist.
Collins, 69, was also charged with a misdemeanor count of driving with a blood-alcohol content that’s above the legal limit of .08 percent, said city attorney’s spokesman Frank Mateljan.
The TV host and actor faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted.
Collins was scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 16. Mateljan said he had no information on Collins’ attorney, and there were no listings for the entertainer’s representatives.
Collins was driving a 2004 Ford Explorer on Oct. 16 when his SUV was struck by the other driver in the San Fernando Valley, police said. Collins’ vehicle then crashed into two parked cars.
Collins was not injured, and the older man was taken to a hospital for unspecified injuries.
Officers smelled alcohol on Collins’ breath and conducted a sobriety test. He was arrested after failing it, authorities said.
Collins’ long career includes guest roles on series such as “Yes, Dear,” “JAG” and “The Young and the Restless,” as well as appearances on “The New Hollywood Squares” and “Circus of the Stars.”
He married Brandon, Miss.-native Mary Anne Mobley, an actress and a former Miss Mississippi and former Miss America, in 1967.