Singer Bobby Brown was driving without a court-ordered dashboard Breathalyzer when he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence early Wednesday, prosecutors said.
The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office made the claim as it officially charged the New Edition singer with multiple DUI counts Thursday.
The first count claims Brown was driving under the influence with a prior conviction when he was pulled over in Tarzana, Calif, around 1 a.m. Wednesday and refused to take a chemical test, the Los Angeles City Attorney said.
That charge carries six days to a year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine.
Prosecutors also say Brown was driving on a restricted license and that he ignored a judge's order to drive only vehicles with alcohol-monitoring ignition interlock devices.
Such devices require a breath test before drivers can start the engine.
The second and third counts carry maximum jail terms of six months each and the possibility of $6,000 in combined fines.
The "My Prerogative" singer, formerly married to the late pop icon Whitney Houston, was pulled over Wednesday for a traffic violation and failed his filed sobriety test, cops told the Daily News.
"Based on the officer's observations, he was arrested and booked for driving under the influence," Sgt. Pablo Monterrosa with the Los Angeles Police Department told The News. "He was cooperative."
Brown, 43, is currently serving three years’ probation after pleading no contest to another DUI charge earlier this year.
He was popped in March for talking on his cellphone while driving and smelled of alcohol, police said.
He checked into rehab in August after marrying his manager, Alicia Etheridge, in Hawaii in June.
"Mr. Brown takes his agreement very seriously and admitted himself three weeks after concluding his honeymoon in Mexico during a break from the New Edition tour," his attorney Christopher Brown said in a release at the time. "Bobby is doing well and receiving services that comply with his agreement with the State of California."
The March DUI was just days after officials revealed Houston had cocaine in her system when she accidentally drowned in a hotel bathtub Feb. 11.
Brown's turbulent 14-year marriage with Houston weathered allegations of drug use and physical abuse – drama depicted on the reality show "Being Bobby Brown."
Brown was arrested for drunken driving in Florida in 1996 and sentenced to five days behind bars for crashing Houston's Porsche with a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit.
He served more jail time in 2000 after a court-ordered drug test showed traces of cocaine.
Brown is due in court Nov. 16 for arraignment on the new DUI charges.
If a judge decides he violated his probation with this week's arrest, he could face up to six months in jail on that and up to $610 in fines, prosecutors told The News.
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