Star Booked, Treated for Alleged Overdose

Rock star Courtney Love was taken to a hospital for an apparent drug overdose Thursday following her arrest for allegedly smashing four windows at a friend’s home, authorities said.

Police responding to an early morning burglary call found Love, 39, standing outside a Wilshire-area home, where she admitted having broken the windows in an attempt to enter, Los Angeles Police Lt. Art Miller said. She was booked on an allegation of being under the influence of a controlled substance and released.

Less than an hour later, Beverly Hills police and paramedics responded to a call for help at a private residence; Love was found at the residence and taken to a hospital for treatment.

Love is the founder of the influential band Hole, and was a Golden Globe nominee for her role in the movie “The People vs. Larry Flynt.” The widow of rock star Kurt Cobain, she was booked under the name Courtney Michelle Cobain and released about 5:30 a.m. after $2,500 bail was posted.

Neither she nor her manager could be reached for comment. Nor could a representative for her record label.

In the earlier incident, Love showed signs of being under the influence of a controlled substance, Miller said. She was arrested at a home in the 100 block of South Mansfield Avenue and taken to the Wilshire Division Station.

About 40 minutes after her release, Beverly Hills police and paramedics responded to a call for help at a home in the 700 block of North Alpine Avenue, where a woman was found to be under the influence of a controlled substance and was taken to a hospital for treatment, said Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mitch McCann.

Law enforcement sources identified her as Love.

McCann said officers were responding to a call for help that was received about 6:10 a.m. The woman identified as Love was described by police as “under the influence of a controlled substance and overdosed.”

Paramedics transported her to Century City Hospital for treatment, McCann said. Love was not at the hospital by midday Thursday.

It was not the first time that Love had been taken to Century City Hospital. In April 1994 she was arrested at the Beverly Hills Peninsula Hotel after hotel officials called police to report that they believed one of their guests had possibly overdosed.

Love was treated at a hospital but was not charged. Shortly after the incident, Love entered a drug rehabilitation center. She left when she learned that Cobain, of the rock group Nirvana, had committed suicide

Love formed the Seattle-based alternative rock band Hole in 1989, and the band quickly rose to prominence. Four days after Kurt Cobain’s death, the group released its second album, “Live Through This,” and it went platinum. The band’s last album was released in 1998.

More recently, Love has gained a reputation as a campaigner for artists’ rights. She contended in court that Vivendi Universal Music Group had coerced her and other artists into signing away music rights. Love, who has continued to carve out a career as an actress, settled with Vivendi Universal last year.

Her name was among those mentioned in December when a Beverly Hills physician, Jules Lusman, was stripped of his medical license by the California Medical Board for prescribing addictive drugs on a cash-and-carry basis to celebrities.