Britney Spears Arrested for DUI in California

The 44-year-old pop star was arrested in Ventura, Calif., on March 5

Britney Spears

Britney Spears. Credit :

Britney Brands

NEED TO KNOW

Britney Spears was arrested for a DUI in Ventura, California, and released hours later under a “cite and release” process
The singer is due in court on May 4 and has since deleted her Instagram account
Spears’ 13-year conservatorship was ended in 2021 and she recently sold her music catalog

Britney Spears was arrested on suspicion of a DUI in Ventura, Calif., PEOPLE can confirm.

According to arrest records from the Ventura Sheriff’s Office, Spears, 44, was placed under arrest on the evening of Wednesday, March 4. She was released early in the morning on Thursday, March 5.

A law enforcement source tells PEOPLE that Spears’ arrest was on suspicion of a DUI.

TMZ was the first to report the news.

The arrest was listed as a “cite and release” with no probation listed.

Spears is due to appear in court for this incident on May 4.

PEOPLE has reached out to the Ventura Sheriff’s Office for additional information, but has not heard back. A rep for Spears did not immediately respond to requests for comment for PEOPLE.

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Spears, whose social media videos have garnered a lot of online chatter, also seemingly deleted her Instagram sometime this week.

This arrest comes amid years of highs and lows for the singer. In 2021 Spears was released from her 13-year conservatorship by an L.A. county judge. Last month, PEOPLE confirmed that Spears sold her music catalogue. It is unclear how much she was paid for her music.

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Britney Spears on Instagram.

Britney Spears/Instagram

Spears has recently been very outspoken about how she was treated by her family, including dad Jamie, 73, mom Lynne, 70, and sister Jamie Lynn, 34. In a February Instagram post, she called out her family, without directly naming anyone.

“For those of you in your family that have said to help you is to isolate you and make you feel unbelievably left out … they were wrong. We can forgive as people but u don’t ever forget,” Spears wrote at the time. “Yearning and longing for contact is always crucial !!!”

Spears added that she believes she is “incredibly lucky to even be alive with how my family treated me once in my life and now I’m scared of them.”

Spears shares Preston, 20, and son Jayden, 19, with her ex-husband, Kevin Federline. She spent Christmas with her son Jayden, a source previously told PEOPLE.