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Hong Kong model won't go to Nevada to face charges

A Hong Kong fashion model won't appear in a Nevada court this week on misdemeanor charges relating to crashing her rented motor home into a landmark arch just one day after she was arrested on felony drug charges at the Burning Man counterculture festival.
Image: Rosemary Vandenbroucke
Rosemary Vandenbroucke, seen in this photo provided by the Washoe County sheriff's department, faces three misdemeanor charges stemming from the crash of a rented motor home.AP file
/ Source: The Associated Press

A Hong Kong fashion model won't appear in a Nevada court this week on misdemeanor charges relating to crashing her rented motor home into a landmark arch just one day after she was arrested on felony drug charges at the Burning Man counterculture festival.

Rosemary Vandenbroucke, 28, won't attend a Reno court hearing Wednesday or another hearing next month, her attorney said.

"She maintains her innocence but is not going to have any statements about the case until it is resolved," Reno-based attorney Tammy Riggs told The Associated Press late Friday.

Riggs said she will enter not guilty pleas Wednesday in Reno Municipal Court on her client's behalf at the arraignment on misdemeanor charges related to the crash.

Vandenbroucke also is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 26 on the felony drug charge in Pershing County Justice Court in Lovelock, about 100 miles east of Reno, Pershing County Deputy District Attorney Bryce Shields said.

But Riggs said her client doesn't have to appear in court then either.

Reno city officials did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

Vandenbroucke was arrested on Sept. 5 with a small amount of Ecstasy at the festival, which attracts about 50,000 people to the Black Rock desert north of Reno. She was charged with possession of a controlled substance and released on $15,000 bail.

The next day she was arrested again after allegedly hitting a fire hydrant and crashing a motor home into downtown Reno's "Biggest Little City in the World" arch, substantially damaging the 40-foot  rented motor home but causing only minor damage to the arch. No one was injured.

Witnesses told police a passenger removed the broken hydrant from beneath the truck and climbed back into the vehicle as the female driver drove away.

Police stopped the motor home a short distance away and arrested Vandenbroucke.

A conviction on the drug charges could result in up to four years' probation. Vandenbroucke produced a French passport when she was arrested and provided a Hong Kong address. It was not immediately clear if she was still in the United States.

She faces three misdemeanor charges stemming from the crash — vehicular hit-and-run, failure to maintain insurance and improper right turn charges.