LOS ANGELES - A bizarre new chapter is unfolding in the life of Britney Spears, with the troubled pop star hospitalized today "for her own welfare" after a three-hour standoff involving her two young sons.
With paparazzi swarming the ambulance doors, Spears was whisked away late Thursday, nearly three hours after police arrived at her home in a gated community. No injuries were reported.
Police initially said it appeared the 26-year-old Spears was under the influence of an unknown substance but Officer April Harding said today she could not confirm that or other reports that Spears was hospitalized for mental evaluation.
"For her own welfare, she was transferred to a local hospital for medical treatment," Harding said, declining to elaborate.
Spears was conscious as the ambulance left her home escorted by a row of police cars. A horde of paparazzi chased the ambulance, their strobes going off as they held their cameras up to the vehicle’s rear window.
Another group of videographers met the ambulance at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, banging on the ambulance doors.
Cedars spokeswoman Simi Singer said she could neither confirm nor deny that Spears was at the hospital, citing patient confidentiality laws.
Officers were called to Spears’ house around 8 p.m. Thursday for an issue involving custody of 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James, Harding said.
By about 10:30 p.m., six police cars, two ambulances and a fire truck had entered the gated-community, where Spears has a $4.5 million, five-bedroom, six-bathroom home in the Santa Monica Mountains above Beverly Hills.
Several police cars were seen in the area earlier in the night.
Spears turned over the children around 10:50 p.m., Officer Jason Lee said.
Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline have been involved in a long and very public custody battle. Federline, 29, has temporary custody of the children because Spears, who has limited visitation rights, has defied court orders. The two were married in October 2004 and divorced in July.
Attorneys for Spears and Federline were in court today to discuss child custody arrangements.
Tara Scott, representing Spears, and Federline’s attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, spent about 30 minutes in chambers with Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon, who has been handling the custody case. They made no comments to reporters.
Spears’ life has spiraled downward during the past year. She has been photographed without underwear and appeared to be drunk and out-of-control in public. She shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella and spent a month in rehab, and has had a handful of fender benders, including one in which she ran over a photographer’s foot.
Earlier Thursday, Spears appeared for a deposition in her custody dispute. Spears was questioned for just 14 minutes, Kaplan told reporters after Spears left.
Spears called in sick for a Dec. 12 court-ordered deposition, but was photographed that day driving with a friend. She also didn’t show up for a session Wednesday, Kaplan said.
Spears’ attorneys from the firm Trope and Trope on Wednesday filed a court motion asking to be relieved due to a "breakdown" in communication with their client.
Kaplan said Spears’ attorneys were present for what became a very abbreviated session, which had been scheduled to last two hours.
"You can imagine in 14 minutes there’s not a lot of time to develop questions," he said.
Kaplan said another deposition would be scheduled.
Britney Spears indulged in yet another public breakdown yesterday.The Toxic singer hit the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills yesterday looking visibly worse for wear befire halting traffic on Sunset Blvd after her car tire blew up.Brit was later rescued by a photographer who drove her back to her Beverly Hills pad. Will our favorite pop-mess ever recover from her downward spiral? 
