Paris Hilton is facing a cocaine charge and her boyfriend, Cy Waits, is accused of driving under the influence, Las Vegas authorities say.

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The pair were taken into custody after a police search allegedly turned up an undisclosed amount of cocaine in Hilton's purse after their black Escalade was pulled over for a traffic stop about 11:30 p.m. outside the Wynn Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas strip Friday night, TMZ.com reported Saturday.

KLAS-TV, Las Vegas, said the odor of marijuana coming from the car may have prompted the search.

Hilton, 29, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and booked into the Clark County Detention Center and later freed on her own recognizance, the celebrity watch Web site said. Waits remained jailed after having his bail set at $2,000, the Las Vegas Journal-Review reported.

"This matter will be dealt with in the courts, not in the media, and I encourage people not to rush to judgment until all of the facts have been dealt with in a court of law," People magazine reported Hilton's attorney, David Chesnoff, said in a statement.

Hilton was jailed three years ago in an alcohol-related driving case. Last month, she was questioned, but not charged, by police who suspected her of smoking marijuana while in South Africa for the World Cup. She later was held, but again not charged, by police in Corsica who allegedly found a small amount of pot in her purse.

The newspaper said Hilton was busy tweeting her fans Friday night and early Saturday but made no mention of her legal troubles.

The newspaper said Waits, armed with a gun, had helped apprehend a knife-wielding intruder in Hilton's Beverly Hills home early in the week,