Lindsay Lohan arrives early for tasks at coroner’s office

Actress Lindsay Lohan may have been greeted with flashbulbs for her highly anticipated arrival at the Los Angeles County coroner’s office Friday morning, but once inside, she was treated just like everybody else, coroner’s officials said.

Lohan arrived before sun-up for her 8 a.m. appointment at the morgue to begin serving her 120 hours of community service, part of her shoplifting sentence.

“She is not getting any special treatment,” said Ed Winter, assistant chief of the coroner’s office. “She’s going to be cleaning toilets, mopping floors and emptying the trash bins.”

Winter said she is one of about 15 to 20 people who perform this type of community service daily. She won’t be going near the autopsy rooms, he said.

Coroner’s staffers have been ordered not to take pictures of Lohan. They are forbidden from fraternizing with community service workers, Winter said.

Despite reports that Lohan bought In-N-Out burgers for the staff, Winter said only Lohan received fast food from her assistant. The actress’ people did try to deliver cupcakes, Winter said, but coroner’s officials turned them down.

On Thursday, she had arrived at the morgue late and was sent home and considered a no-show because prompt arrival is mandatory, coroner’s officials said.

So on Friday, Lohan took no chances, said her publicist, Steve Honig. She left her home at 5 a.m. and was at the coroner’s office at 5:35 a.m., he said.

When she exited her SUV and entered the morgue a couple hours later, the arrival was well documented by radio and TV crews and by helicopters that buzzed overhead.

Lohan is in trouble with Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner, who earlier this week ordered her handcuffed and jailed after she violated terms of her probation in her misdemeanor shoplifting case by failing to do sufficient community service at the Downtown Women’s Center. She had missed nine appointments.

She now must work 120 hours at the morgue, serving two eight-hour shifts a week pending a Nov. 2 hearing on whether to revoke her probation.

richard.winton@latimes.com