Dethroned beauty queen is released from jail

Dethroned beauty queen
is released from jail

LAS VEGAS — A former beauty queen who was stripped of her tiara after racy photos of her appeared on the Internet has been freed from jail following her arrest on traffic offenses. Katherine N. “Katie” Rees, 23, a former Miss Nevada USA, was held for about 12 hours at the Clark County jail after police said she was stopped while driving about 3 a.m. Wednesday and became physically aggressive toward a Las Vegas police officer. Mario Torres, Rees’ lawyer in Tampa, Fla., denied Rees was aggressive, and said she chipped or lost a tooth when she was forcefully pushed against her vehicle. Rees was charged with speeding, driving with a suspended license, operating a motor vehicle with suspended license plates, failure to produce proof of insurance and resisting a police officer, police said. She was released without bail and is due to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court on March 8. Torres said Rees was alone when she was stopped while driving her car. He and police said there was no indication she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The Miss Universe Organization and co-owner Donald Trump dethroned Rees in December 2006 after photos appeared showing her kissing other young women, exposing one of her breasts and pulling down her pants to show her thong underwear at a party in Tampa, Fla.

Today’s birthdays

Composer-conductor John Williams is 76. Former ABC News anchor Ted Koppel is 68. Actor Nick Nolte is 67. Comedian Robert Klein is 66. Country singer Dan Seals is 60. Actress Mary Steenburgen is 55. Author John Grisham is 53. Rock singer Vince Neil (Motley Crue) is 47. Actor Gary Coleman is 40. Actor Seth Green is 34. Rock musician Phoenix (Linkin Park) is 31. Actress Karle Warren (“Judging Amy”) is 16.