LOS ANGELES (AFP) – A luxury car belonging to actor Charlie Sheenwas found crashed in a Los Angeles ravine early Friday after having been reported as stolen by the troubled star, police said.
A team of firefighters found the wreckage of Sheen's Mercedes nestling 100 feet down a hillside on Mulholland Drive. No victim or passengers were discovered in the car, authorities said.
The search was launched after a cell phone caller told the California Highway Patrol early Friday that a black vehicle had gone over the side of the road, CHP Officer Patrick Kimball said.
Sheen reported his car stolen, Los Angeles Police Department OfficerBruce Borihanh said. "It is being investigated as an auto theft," Borihanh said.
Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck told KTLA television he "had no reason to disbelieve" Sheen's report of the car being stolen.
The incident comes as Sheen faces a court hearing in Aspen, Colorado on Monday in connection with a domestic violence incident in December.
Sheen, the star of Oscar-winning films such as "Platoon" and "Wall Street," is alleged to have attacked his wife of 19 months, Brooke Mueller, at a vacation home in Aspen on Christmas Day.
The 44-year-old, who also stars in the primetime television comedy series "Two And A Half Men," is expected to be charged with felony menacing and misdemeanor assault in connection with the incident.
Mueller, who was unhurt in the incident, has since indicated she does not want her husband to be prosecuted and is set to appear in court on Monday according to reports.
After several entanglements with the law in the 1990s in cases related to drugs, domestic violence and prostitution, Sheen is now one of the best-paid TV comedians thanks to "Two and a Half Men" and "Spin City."