Two Marina del Rey residents were facing possible misdemeanor charges Friday for allegedly interfering with deputies who were investigating what turned out to be a false allegation that actor Gary Busey was driving drunk in Malibu.
Patrice Karst, 51, and Mark Abel, 52, were arrested about 1 p.m. Thursday in the 20300 block of southbound Pacific Coast Highway, where deputies pulled over Busey's Mercedes-Benz, Sgt. Ken Crocker of the sheriff's Malibu/Lost Hills Station said.
They were booked on suspicion of obstructing a peace officer and released after each posted $10,000 bail, according to the sheriff's department.
Crocker said patrolling deputies were flagged down by Karst and Abel, who told them a Mercedes was being driven "erratically" and they thought the motorist was drunk.
Deputies pulled over the Mercedes, which was driven by Busey, but they determined the actor was not impaired, Crocker said. Meanwhile, Karst and Abel followed in a vehicle and stopped behind the patrol car, Crocker said.
During the traffic stop, Karst and Abel apparently "realized that the driver was Gary Busey," and they tried to take pictures with a camera phone, Crocker said. The deputies told them to move farther away, but they refused, saying they had media credentials, which they didn't, Crocker said.
At one point, they allegedly stopped in a traffic lane on PCH next to where the traffic stop was taking place, and deputies then arrested them, Crocker said.
