Remember how Lindsay Lohan was supposed to be turning her life around following the troubles of 2011? The actress kind of started off the year pretty well, bagging $1 million for a Playboy magazine shoot before (somehow) landing the role of screen icon Elizabeth Taylor in Lifetime's television movie Liz & Dick. Though it won't win her any awards, she also signed up for Scary Movie 5 and has been working with Bret Easton Ellis on his independent film The Canyons. So why does she seem intent on doing stupid things, all the time?

Lohan was arrested at 4am on Thursday (November 29, 2012) for allegedly punching a woman in a New York City nightclub. According to law enforcement sources who spoke with TMZ.com, the actress was partying at Club Avenue when she got into a heated argument with a female reveller and things became physical. Lohan fled the club and jumped into a car, which the cops later intercepted before making the arrest. When placed in handcuffs, she kept repeating, "Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?" She was booked for 3rd degree misdemeanour assault before being released. It's likely that she'll get a warning and the charges will be dropped. 

However, Lohan may find herself back behind bars sooner than she thinks. She is facing a total of 4 new criminal charges with the Santa Monica City Attorney set to charge her in connection with her car accident last June on the Pacific Coast Highway. After smashing up her Porsche, she allegedly lied to cops telling them she was the passenger in the car. She is set to be charged with giving false information to an officer, obstructing or resisting a police officer in the performance of his duty and reckless driving. It all adds up to a maximum 1 year, 9 months in prison.

This all has a knock-on effect on her jewellery theft case in Los Angeles, with a hearing set to determine if she will go to jail for breaking the terms of her probation (which noted she must obey all law). Her last stint in prison totalled a massive 84 minutes, with a sheriff spokesman citing overcrowding and the nonviolent nature of her crime as the reason for her release.

With violence cited in her latest arrest, things might be a little different this time.