Beyoncé - "Schoolin' Life"

J.R. Taylor Choreography

Thursday, March 11, 2010

GLENDALE — A singer from the pop group Girlicious was arrested Tuesday night after police found more than a dozen individual packages of cocaine in her Gucci purse, officials said.

Natalie Mejia, 21, of Diamond Bar, was released Wednesday from the Glendale City Jail after posting a $30,000 bond, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Mejia and Peter Asencio, 28, of Burbank, were taken into custody shortly after 9:20 p.m., when police noticed a Ford Mustang speeding, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

The officer stopped the Mustang at Victory Boulevard and Winchester Avenue as it headed onto the Ventura (134) Freeway, he said.

Mejia, a passenger, was rushing to an airport, Lorenz said.

Mejia and her group were scheduled to perform Friday in Toronto.

Police searched the Mustang after discovering Asencio’s driver’s license was suspended, Lorenz said.

During the search, he said police found multiple individual baggies of cocaine in Mejia’s purse.

She and Asencio were immediately arrested on suspicion of possessing cocaine for sale, Lorenz said. Asencio was also arrested on suspicion of driving on a suspended driver’s license. Asencio was also being held in jail in lieu of a $30,000 bond, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

A drug sales charge is based on the number of packages a person is carrying, Lorenz said. The more they have, the more likely they intend to distribute or sell the drugs, he said.

Mejia was cooperating with police, Lorenz said. Calls to Mejia’s publicist and record label, Universal Music Canada, were not returned Wednesday.

In 2008, Mejia was a contestant on the CW reality show, “Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious.”

Mejia beat out other contestants to become one of four members who made up the all-girl group.

While one of the group’s members reportedly had a falling out and recently left Girlicious, Mejia stayed on with the other members, Nichole Cordova and Chrystina Sayers.

Before joining Girlicious, she was a member of two pop groups, Cherri and Breathe.

She is scheduled to be arraigned April 15 in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Glendale.

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