Chinese-born actress Bai Ling was arrested for shoplifting at Los Angeles International Airport after a gift shop employee accused her of stealing two magazines and a pack of batteries, police said on Thursday.
Ling, who has appeared in such films as “The Crow” and “Red Corner,” was taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon after leaving the store with two tabloid magazines and the batteries, Los Angeles Airport Police spokesman Jim Holcomb said.
She was booked on suspicion of shoplifting the items worth $16, a misdemeanor, and ordered to appear in court on May 5, Holcomb said.
Her friend Damon Elliott told “Access Hollywood” that Ling “had big problems with her boyfriend,” causing her to have a “cloudy state of mind” and become “distracted” enough to shoplift. Ling, Elliott said, was headed to Albuquerque, N.M., where she was slated to begin work on the Taylor Hackford film, “Love Ranch.”
On her personal blog, the 37-year-old actress posted pictures of herself standing outside the Southwest Airlines terminal at LAX on Wednesday but did not mention the arrest.
Ling was born in Chengdu, China and appeared in Chinese films before moving to the United States in the 1990s and landing her first major Hollywood film role in “The Crow.”
She has since starred opposite Richard Gere in “Red Corner” in 1997 and on the TV series “Lost.”