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David Cassidy facing hit-and-run charge in crash on the day his home was auctioned

David Cassidy and girlfriend Maura Rossi in the living room of his Florida home that was auctioned off Sept. 9, the day he's accused of leaving the scene of an accident while driving on a suspended license.

David Cassidy and girlfriend Maura Rossi in the living room of his Florida home that was auctioned off Sept. 9, the day he’s accused of leaving the scene of an accident while driving on a suspended license.

(Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press)
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Sept. 9 was a really lousy day for David Cassidy: On the same day his waterfront home was sold in a bankruptcy auction, he was reportedly involved in a hit-and-run accident that has resulted in a number of criminal charges.

On that really lousy day, the former teen idol and “The Partridge Family” star allegedly sideswiped a big rig on a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., highway and, after stopping, left the scene of the accident, TMZ reported, citing police documents.

A witness alleged Cassidy was speeding before the noontime accident and couldn’t stay in his lane, said the Daily Mail, which first reported the news. The 65-year-old and his 2014 Kia Sportage, which had a flat tire and damage to its right side, were located by police about an hour later at a clinic not far from the scene of the accident.

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The 65-year-old reportedly told police he’d exchanged information with the truck driver and then left to go to an unrelated doctor appointment. However, the Mail said a witness told police Cassidy had stopped only to try to hide his license plate.

Police did not test Cassidy for alcohol or drugs, the paper said. He was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, expired tags, improper lane change and driving on a suspended license, TMZ said.

In May, having previously pleaded guilty on a DWI charge stemming from an August 2013 arrest in New York, he was sentenced to a $900 fine, a six-month driver’s license suspension and the installation of an ignition interlock device in his car to prevent him from starting a car while drunk. The license suspension was still in place in September.

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The home auction was part of bankruptcy and divorce proceedings, according to the Associated Press. The 7,000-square-foot home went to the highest of four bidders, going under contract at $1.8 million before eventually selling for a court-approved price of more than $2 million.

“I put so much time and love and energy into this,” Cassidy told the AP in July while giving a tour of the place where he’d lived — and puttered in the garden — for 13 years.

His plans at the time included selling off his assets, paying off his creditors, finalizing his divorce from third wife Sue Shifrin-Cassidy and moving on with his interior-designer girlfriend Maura Rossi. The divorce has been going on since February 2014, when Shifrin-Cassidy filed to split after 23 years of marriage.

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In March 2014, he was sentenced to 90 days’ live-in rehab, a nine-month alcohol-education course, fines and 60 months’ probation after being arrested on suspicion of DUI in January of that year near Los Angeles International Airport. His manager said he’d been staying sober, but fell off the wagon on the day of the arrest after tough questioning in a deposition for a lawsuit he filed against Sony Pictures Entertainment.

In January 2015, he was awarded $158,000 in the Sony case, which accused the company of withholding money owed for using the David Partridge image on “The Partridge Family” merchandise.

In February, a judge in L.A. signed off on Cassidy’s completion of a nine-month alcohol-education program.

The singer, who’s still touring, is scheduled to play a show Oct. 9 in Bloomington, Ill.

Follow Christie D’Zurilla on Twitter @theCDZ and Google+. Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Twitter @LATcelebs.

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