The Heather Locklear DUI case just keeps getting more interesting. Locklear was arrested by cops on suspicion of DUI on Saturday. She was not driving at the time of the arrest, but was said to be acting erratically and her car was nearby.

The person who called the cops on Heather is a former US Weekly staffer who is under investigation by the FBI for downloading celebrity contact information after she left the magazine. What’s more is that it’s just come out that the woman runs a paparazzi agency. Now the questions are whether Heather was really impaired or not, and if she was set up by the woman. Heather did pass the on-scene breathalyser, but cops say she seemed impaired. If she was under the influence of something it may not matter if this woman was following her, waiting to pounce. Here are reports that are coming out on both sides of this story.

California Highway Patrol: Locklear had ‘obvious impairment’; witness’ vested interest has ‘no bearing on the case’
TMZ has the police report from the CHP, which states Locklear was obviously impaired. They also talked to a police source who says that it’s not that important if the woman who called police did it for the photos and story. It’s about whether Heather was too impaired to drive or not.

The woman who reported the DUI also runs a paparazzi agency and was likely following Locklear ahead of calling the cops
So far TMZ’s reports state that the woman who called the cops on Locklear, Jill Ishkanian, called a photographer immediately, although Ishkanian denies this. They made it seem like she just happened to know the person through her ties to US Weekly, because that’s what she told them. Ishkanian in fact owns a paparazzi agency, Sunset Photo & News, according to an Associated Press report. What’s more is that the sequence of photos put out by Ishkanian suggest that she was following Locklear well ahead of the time that she claims she just happened to run into her driving erratically. According to E! Online, Ishkanian was paid $27,000 by TMZ for the photos of Locklear’s arrest.

Witness claims Locklear looked fine and not out of it at all
E! Online has a witness who saw Locklear leaving a store right before the cops arrived. That person says that “She seemed to be acting normal, totally normal. She was just really messy, but not drunk.” They even include the guy’s name in the story, so it sounds like a legitimate report.

The DA’s office says they’re waiting for the results of the toxicology report to see if they’re going to officially charge Locklear with DUI. The CHP’s “drug recognition expert” claimed that she did seem to be “under the influence of an unspecified drug.”

This brings up all sorts of issues about paparazzi photographers trying to create the news instead of just document it. I’m reminded of something George Clooney said earlier this year about the paparazzi:

“These people are being paid so much that they are willing to commit crimes, to break into your house, to cut you off in traffic, to run lights, to slam on the brakes in front of you, to get the money shot. It’s creating bounty hunters.”

Ishkanian cashed in to the tune of $27,000 for reporting Locklear to the police. Whether Locklear needed to be reported or not is yet to be determined.

Heather Locklear is shown filming the Lifetime movie “Flirting with 40” in Hawaii on 5/1/08. Credit: Tina Lau / PR Photos