Amanda Bynes' parents reportedly discuss conservatorship

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Vanilla Ice, real name Robert Van Winkle, was arrested in February 2014 in Florida on suspicion of felony burglary and grand theft. The rapper-turned-DIY Network personality, who allegedly took items from an abandoned home near one he was renovating for his TV show, cut a plea deal for community service, restitution and a clean record if he behaves for nine months.

(Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office / Associated Press)

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Emile Hirsch was arrested Jan. 25, 2015, in Park City, Utah, on suspicion of assault but didn’t pose for booking photos until a March 16 court appearance. He allegedly put Paramount Digital Entertainment/Insurge Pictures VP Daniele Bernfeld in a chokehold at Sundance. (Handout / Getty Images)

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Dustin Diamond, who played Screech on “Saved by the Bell,” was arrested Dec. 26, 2014, in Wisconsin after a bar fight late Christmas night. A police report said he admitted accidentally stabbing a man who was harassing his fiancee. (Ozaukee County Sheriff / Associated Press)

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Former Los Angeles news anchor Bree Walker was arrested by Anaheim police Feb. 19, 2014, after authorities said she appeared drunk and refused to take a Breathalyzer test. (Handout / Getty Images)

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David Cassidy was arrested on suspicion of felony driving while intoxicated on Aug. 21, 2013, in Schodack, N.Y. The actor was released on $2,500 bail. (Handout / Getty Images)

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Dina Lohan was arrested Sept. 12, 2013, in New York on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after cops pulled her over for driving 77 mph in a 55 zone. She blew a 0.20 on a breath test, cops said, more than twice New York’s legal limit of 0.08. (Handout / Getty Images)

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This notorious mug shot of “That ‘70s Show” actress Lisa Robin Kelly is from March 2012, when she was arrested on suspicion of spousal abuse in North Carolina. Kelly was arrested again in Burbank in June 2013 on suspicion of DUI. (Handout / Getty Images)

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This Clark County Detention Center booking photo shows environmental activist Erin Brockovich, 52, arrested June 7, 2013, on suspicion of boating while intoxicated at Lake Mead near Las Vegas. Brockovich was released from the Clark County Detention Center after posting $1,000 bail. (HOPD / AP)

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Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon became agitated after her husband, CAA agent Jim Toth, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Atlanta on April 19, 2013, officials said. Witherspoon was subsequently arrested for disorderly conduct. (Georgia Department of Corrections / AFP)

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Stephen Baldwin was arrested Dec. 6, 2012, and arraigned on charges that he failed to file state income taxes for three years, 2008, 2009 and 2010. (Rockland County District Attorney’s Office / Associated Press)

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The rapper and reality TV personality was arrested Oct. 18, 2012. According to a police report obtained by the Associated Press, he is accused of throwing his fiancee to the floor twice and wielding two knives while chasing and threatening to kill her 17-year-old son. (Las Vegas Police Department / Associated Press)

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Randy Travis is bruised up in a mug shot taken after he was arrested Aug. 8, 2012, on suspicion of DWI and a third-degree felony count of retaliation. He was naked when he was arrested. (Grayson County Sheriff’s Office / Associated Press)

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Amanda Bynes was arrested April 6, 2012, on suspicion of DUI after allegedly clipping the corner of a sheriff’s cruiser in West Hollywood. She later pleaded not guilty, and tweeted a request to President Obama asking that the officer who arrested her be fired. (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept. / Getty Images)

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Randy Travis was arrested Feb. 6, 2012, on a charge of public intoxication. He was parked at a Baptist church, allegedly smelling of alcohol with an open bottle of wine in the front seat of his Trans Am. (Denton County Sheriff’s Dept. / Associated Press)

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Nicolas Cage was arrested April 16, 2011, in New Orleans on charges of domestic abuse battery and disturbing the peace. He was allegedly drunk and fighting with his wife about whether the French Quarter residence they were standing in front of was their rental home. (Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office / Associated Press)

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Flavor Flav -- real name William Jonathan Drayton Jr. -- was arrested in Las Vegas in May 2011 after a routine traffic stop resulted in police officers finding four warrants out for his arrest. The Public Enemy alum had four misdemeanor traffic warrants. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police / Getty Images)

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David Cassidy’s car was stopped Nov. 3, 2010, on the Florida Turnpike for weaving and nearly causing an accident, police said. Cassidy allegedly failed a field sobriety test and later showed a blood alcohol level around 0.14. He pleaded no contest to DUI and got probation. (Florida Highway Patrol / Associated Press)

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MIAMI - NOVEMBER 08: In this handout photo provided by the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department, Lawrence Former NFL great Lawrence Taylor has been indicted on two felony counts and three misdemeanor charges related to the alleged rape of a 16-year-old allegedly hired as a prostitute, the Rockland County, N.Y., district attorney’s office said. (Handout / Getty Images)

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O.J. Simpson’s mugshot from his arrest in Los Angeles in 1994. (Bob Carey / Los Angeles Times)

By Richard Winton

July 24, 2013 11:24 AM PT

Actress Amanda Bynes’ parents are considering seeking a conservatorship similar to one obtained for singer Britney Spears, according to a source familiar with the “Hairspray” star’s latest run-in with authorities.

After being detained Monday by Ventura County sheriff’s deputies, Bynes is currently being held for an involuntary mental health evaluation, authorities said.

Bynes was stopped after igniting a her pant leg while setting a small fire with a gas can in the driveway of a Thousand Oaks home, according to deputies and witnesses. The actress grew up in Thousand Oaks, where her father had a dental practice.

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Bynes, already facing drug charges in New York and the subject of a series of charges in L.A. County, was taken into custody for her own safety under California’s Welfare and Institutions Code, known as a 5150 hold, after the incident, Sheriff’s Capt. Don Aguilar said.

Under the law, she can be held for 72 hours. But sources familiar with the incident say the actress may be held another 14 days if she is determined to be a danger to herself or others.

Her parents, who for more than a year have expressed concerns about her welfare, have discussed seeking a conservatorship for their daughter, according to a source familiar with the actress but not authorized to discuss the matter publically.

Britney Spears parents’ obtained a conservatorship after a series of erratic incidents in 2008, including a much-publicized visit to a salon where she had her head shaved. In Spears’ case, her father has overseen her life with a court-ordered attorney since she was deemed legally incompetent.

Under a conservatorship, a person turns over the most basic decisions in life about money, doctors and even where they live.

In Bynes’ latest entanglement, a witness who called 911 reported seeing Bynes with a small gas can and was concerned it could explode.

Andrew Liverpool told reporters he saw “this girl lying down here with her left pant leg on fire and there is this gas can right here and it is trailing fire.”

Liverpool said when he went to help, she had already managed to snuff out the flames on her pant leg.

The witness said Bynes was with a small dog and that when the man asked if she was OK, she said she was fine.

As he was moving the gas can away and others arrived to help, he said, Bynes left the scene and he found her on the next block. He said she then tried to leave in a cab, but he told the driver not to take her.

“When I look at her,” he said, he realized “it is Amanda Bynes.” He said Bynes claimed that her dog had been burned.

Deputies responded to a home in the 200 block of Avenida de los Arboles about 8:46 p.m.

“There was a call about a small fire that she’d apparently set in front of the residence, kind of out on a sidewalk on the concrete,” Sgt. Eric Buschow said. “It wasn’t an attempt to burn down the house or anything.”

Buschow said the fire caused no property damage.

In May, Manhattan prosecutors charged Bynes with attempted evidence-tampering, reckless endangerment and marijuana possession after New York police alleged she tossed a bong out of her apartment window.

Her attorney in Los Angeles, Richard Hutton, said afterward that his client was “fine” and recent reports were “exaggerated.”

In the recent New York case, an employee at the 47th Street high-rise where Bynes lives reported to police that Bynes was smoking marijuana in the building’s lobby, acting erratically and supposedly talking to herself, according to authorities.

Bynes has denied using drugs and said the alleged bong was actually a plant vase.

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richard.winton@latimes.com