Amanda Bynes' Erratic Behavior Prompts Calls for Help

Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Actress Amanda Bynes‘ increasingly erratic behavior has concerned onlookers pleading for someone to help her.

A friend grew so concerned this week that he asked police to check on Bynes. In an interview with ABC News, Jonathan Jaxson, a Hollywood publicist and the actress’ friend, said he got worried after talking to Bynes.

“She started ranting and she was drunk out of her mind.  She said, ‘I don’t want to live anymore,’” Jaxson said.

Jaxson, who was 1,500 miles away from the New York-based Bynes, tweeted his concern and asked New York City police to check on his friend. Bynes has displayed months of apparently bizarre behavior, including tweeting a topless photo of herself earlier this week.

Bynes, a former child star whose recent movie hits include Hairspray and Easy A, also tweeted an image of herself wearing just a bra and what appeared to be pantyhose this week.

“About to put on makeup!” she wrote in a tweet to her more than 896,000 followers. “I weigh 135, I’ve gained weight! I need to be 100 lbs!”

Last month the 27-year-old tweeted photos of her partially shaved head. She also took to Twitter to denounce media reports she claims are inaccurate.

Bynes’ behavior has prompted concerns about her physical and mental well-being. Following Jaxson’s tweet, actress Jenny McCarthy tweeted “police are at Amanda Bynes house. I hope they get her help. Enough of this circus.” That prompted Bynes to lash out at McCarthy, too.

“You’re ugly! Police weren’t at my house, old lady! Shut the f*** up!” Bynes tweeted Thursday  in response to McCarthy, her former What I Like About You co-star.

Bynes has since apologized to McCarthy and deleted the angry tweets she wrote. In a November article in Us Weekly magazine, McCarthy described Bynes as “unreachable.”

“My heart feels for whatever she is going through and I love her dearly,” McCarthy told the magazine.

McCarthy is not the only one who’s worried about Bynes.

“Every photo she posts she’s alone!! I can’t take it.  I want to cry,” Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards tweeted about Bynes.

As far back as November, another of Bynes’ former What I Like About You co-stars, Jennie Garth, described her as “unreachable.”

“My heart feels for whatever she is going through and I love her dearly,” Garth told Us Weekly magazine.

Howard Bragman, a public relations expert and ABC News consultant, addressed the concerns expressed for Bynes.

“We know how things like this can end up, and nobody wants to be the one who says I should have done something,” he said. “It’s clear something needs to be done, and she’s a part of this community. “

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Amanda Bynes Hit-And-Run Charges Dismissed

Jason Merritt/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- Amanda Bynes has reached settlements in her two hit-and-run cases, according to E! Online.

Bynes’ attorney, Richard Hutton, appeared in court in Van Nuys, Calif., on Wednesday with legal papers signed by the two victims of the alleged incidents that occurred on April 10 and on Aug. 4.  According to the documents, the parties involved indicated they had received "full satisfaction" and wanted to have the matters permanently dismissed. 

Hutton tells E! News that "Amanda is satisfied and grateful for this outcome of the case."

Judge Thomas Rubinson dismissed the two cases, despite a strong objection from the city attorney’s office.  L.A. prosecutors reportedly did not want to see the cases dismissed due to the fact that there were multiple hit-and-runs and Bynes still has a DUI case pending.

Bynes is also still facing two counts of driving while on a suspended license.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Report: Amanda Bynes Barricades Herself in Dressing Room; Denies Mental Problem Rumors

Jason Merritt/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- More drama for troubled former child star Amanda Bynes.  Just a day after Lindsay Lohan said via Twitter that the actress should be locked up, comes a report Bynes locked herself in a boutique's dressing room for nearly two hours.

TMZ reports Bynes entered an L.A. store called Kin Monday afternoon, picked out some items, then spent an hour and 45 minutes in a dressing room. Employees reported periodically hearing banging sounds coming from the room, but the 26-year-old actress reportedly refused any help when asked, saying only, "I need more time."

Nearly two hours later, she reportedly emerged, picked out some items and paid for them, but returned to the clerk to pay for a bathing suit top she apparently forgot she tried on, and was wearing under her clothes. When paparazzi got wind of Bynes' whereabouts, she reportedly asked a store employee to call her a cab, which later whisked the suspended driver from the scene.

The gossip site also reports Bynes is denying she's undergoing a Britney-style meltdown, and doesn't need a conservators to watch over her affairs like Spears does. Rehab is apparently also off the table for Bynes, TMZ reports.

Bynes was pulled over Sunday morning in Burbank and issued a misdemeanor ticket for driving on a suspended license. Furthermore, her BMW, which had been involved in various accidents and a DUI case, was impounded.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Amanda Bynes’ License Suspended After Hit and Run Charges

Jason Merritt/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- A Los Angeles judge has ordered former teen star Amanda Bynes, recently charged with two counts of hit and run, off the road after reports that she was seen driving around town recently though her license is under suspension.

Bynes’ license was recently suspended by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office confirmed to ABC News.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel ordered Bynes on Wednesday not to drive without a valid driver’s license, the court confirmed to ABC News. Revel was the judge who sentenced Lindsay Lohan to 90 days in jail in 2010 after she violated her probation from a DUI charge.

Bynes’ next hearing is set for Sept. 21, although she does not have to appear in court because her charge is only a misdemeanor, the D.A.’s office said.

Bynes has had several driving incidents in the last few months. The most recent occurred on Sept. 9 when the actress was pulled over by Los Angeles police for driving without her lights on, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A rep for Bynes did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Prosecutors Re-Open Amanda Bynes Hit-and-Run Case

Jason Merritt/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- Amanda Bynes' latest driving mishap has drawn the attention of Los Angeles prosecutors.

According to TMZ.com, the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office is revisiting a case from April in which the Easy A star allegedly struck a BMW from behind on a freeway and drove away -- all because she reportedly was involved in another hit-and-run this month.

The April case was initially rejected by prosecutors because there were no witnesses who could testify that Bynes hit a car and fled the scene.  However, in light of the most recent incident, which reportedly took place on Aug. 4 in L.A., prosecutors have re-opened the case.

In the latter incident, a Los Angeles woman filed a police report claiming the actress rear-ended her vehicle on Ventura Blvd. in San Fernando Valley and drove off without exchanging insurance information.

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office tells E! News, "Both incidents are under review, but no decision has yet been made."

If Bynes is indeed prosecuted for both incidents, she could face up to six months behind bars for each hit-and-run charge.

In addition to these alleged hit-and-run incidents, Bynes was arrested on suspicion of DUI on April 6.  She has pled not guilty.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Amanda Bynes Cleans Up Her Twitter Account

Jason Merritt/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- Amanda Bynes did some house cleaning on her Twitter account Monday. 

The 26-year-old actress removed everything but her name, avatar and a link to her WhoSay page on her @AmandaBynes account.

Bynes stripped everything bare shortly after a report was published claiming she was involved in another hit-and-run accident in Los Angeles, although it remains unclear whether the two events are related. 

The Los Angeles Police Department is still investigating a car accident in which one woman allegedly rear-ended another woman’s vehicle, but police have not yet identified Bynes as being involved in the car accident.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Amanda Bynes Accused of Another Hit-And-Run

Jason Merritt/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- It appears as though Amanda Bynes was in yet another car accident. 

TMZ.com reports that a Los Angeles woman filed a police report claiming the actress rear-ended her on Ventura Blvd. in San Fernando Valley and drove off without exchanging insurance information.

A woman named Kisa  -- her last name was withheld on the police report -- said she was driving her Toyota Corolla when she was rear-ended by a woman in a black BMW.  Kisa said she did not know who the woman was at first because she "looked like a hot mess," but they had a brief conversation, and she then realized it was Bynes.

She says Bynes attempted to push her bumper back into place, which didn’t work.  Kisa said she wanted to exchange insurance information with Bynes, but Bynes didn’t think it was necessary to exchange information because she felt the damage was not that significant.

However, Kisa said that Bynes' car did have "significant" damage, but Bynes got in her car and drove off. Police took a hit-and-run report from Kisa at the scene.

Bynes was arrested on suspicion of DUI on April 6 and she pled not guilty.  The actress also was twice accused of hit-and-run incidents in May.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Amanda Bynes Back at the Bar After DUI, But Behaves

Jason Merritt/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- She may have been busted on a DUI early Friday morning, but Amanda Bynes was back at the bar the very next day.

The New York Post reports, however, the actress didn't drink at the Los Angeles Irish pub Rock & Reilly’s, where a birthday party was held for a pair of publicists.  Instead, the paper's spies say Bynes stayed "very briefly" before she left to have dinner.

On Tuesday, TMZ posted footage the gossip site says proves Bynes got behind the wheel while inebriated even before her weekend bust after a night partying at L.A.'s Greystone Manor.  In the clip, Bynes appears to stumble in front of, then into her Range Rover.

Before she drove away, a photographer pleaded to her passenger, "She shouldn't be driving, dude!"

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Amanda Bynes Lawyers Up After DUI Arrest

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department(LOS ANGELES) -- Actress Amanda Bynes was busted for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol early Friday morning in West Hollywood, Calif., after the car she was driving clipped a police cruiser.

Bynes, 26, was arrested and held at the West Hollywood Sheriff's Station on $5,000 bail, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.  She was able to post bail, KABC-TV reports, and she was subsequently released.

According to the New York Post, Bynes headed straight from jail to the Beverly Hills Hotel's Polo Lounge to meet with her rep and one of Hollywood's top DUI lawyers, criminal defense attorney Richard Hutton.

"Amanda was exhausted and famished, but wanted to hire an attorney immediately," a source told the paper.

Police confirmed the incident on Friday, and Bynes' subsequent arrest in a statement, saying, “A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy in a marked black and white radio car, was stopped at the intersection of...Robertson Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard [and] preparing to turn right,” when “a black BMW driven by Amanda Bynes attempted to pass the right of the radio car, colliding with the right rear quarter panel of the radio car."

Both vehicles sustained “minor paint damage,” the statement continued.  "Amanda Bynes was subsequently arrested for driving under the influence and booked at West Hollywood Sheriff's Station."

No one was injured, according to the sheriff’s department.

TMZ later released the Hairspray star's mugshot, showing a glassy-eyed Bynes with dyed pink hair.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio