Former Miss USA Rima Fakih, who won the pageant in 2010, was arrested on DUI charges in Highland Park, Michigan this weekend.
According to People magazine, Fakih Tweeted on Saturday, "Let's clear things up now. ... I'm NOT in Michigan and I'm NOT in jail! Wrong Fakih." But has since removed the post and her attorney Doraid Elder confirmed the arrest to the weekly on Sunday.
Elder told People that the beauty queen's record "has not a single blemish" and that she is "very saddened and very apologetic for the situation that she's in right now."
Fakih, who was the first Arab American and the first Miss Michigan since 1993 to win the pageant, surrendered her crown during the Miss USA pageant to the 2011 Miss USA winner Alyssa Campanella on June 19, 2011.
Fakih said she planned on "sleeping for a week" following the end of her reign but offered some words of advice for the next Miss USA.
"This is Miss USA, this is not just any beauty pageant - there are beauty pageants and then there's Miss USA," Fakih told OnTheRedCarpet.com. "What I would want [aspiring contestants] to know is to remember every year, have a scrapbook, know that the crown you're going to wear doesn't mean you're the most beautiful girl in the United States - you're an ambassador."
"You are someone who's going to give a lot of people a lot of hope," she added. "I didn't know I was going to be giving so many people hope - immigrants, Arabs, Muslims, you know. But everyone's looking up to you and it's not just saying 'Oh, I've got a pretty dress on.' Every time you take every step and every time you say any word, whether it's on Facebook or in person, you have to know that you're leading the United States of America."
UPDATE 12/06/2011: The 26-year-old was driving with a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when she was arrested, according to a police report that AP obtained on Tuesday.
The report says that the former Miss USA was pulled over early Saturday going 60 mph, weaving in heavy traffic and changing lanes with a turn signal. The report also says that Fakih immediately "identified herself as Miss USA."
Officers said there was a half-full wine bottle on the floorboard behind the driver's seat, according to the report. Two breath tests showed Fakih was at 0.19 percent and 0.20 percent - Michigan law defines drunkenness at 0.08 percent.
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