DEPUTY HEARD `BOOZE TALKING' ARRESTING OFFICER SAYS HE DIDN'T TAKE STATEMENTS SERIOUSLY.

Byline: TROY ANDERSON Staff Writer

As a civilian investigator probed allegations that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department sanitized Mel Gibson's arrest report, the deputy who arrested the actor expressed regret Monday about the damage to the star's reputation.

The department came under increasing scrutiny after celebrity-news Web site TMZ.com reported that Gibson went on an anti-Semitic tirade during his weekend arrest on suspicion of drunk driving and that Sheriff Lee Baca ordered details of the outburst eliminated from the deputy's report. The Web site also reported that Gibson had been stopped twice in the past three years for reckless driving in Malibu, but had been allowed to leave without being cited.

Baca was at a reception Monday for British Prime Minister Tony Blair and could not be reached for comment. But his spokesman, Steve Whitmore, denied that Baca ordered the report sanitized or that Gibson was treated differently than other suspects.

``There was no preferential treatment given here,'' Whitmore said. ``He was arrested. He was booked, and we anticipate he will be filed (against) on the charge of driving under the influence -- and will be found guilty.''

Prosecutors are reviewing the case but hadn't yet decided Monday whether to file the charge, a spokeswoman said.

Gibson was arrested about 2:35 a.m. Friday after he was clocked going 87 mph in a 45-mph zone on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Officials said Gibson had an open bottle of tequila in his car and registered a 0.12 percent blood-alcohol level during a field-sobriety test.

According to TMZ.com, Deputy James Mee wrote that Gibson tried to evade arrest and at one point went into an anti-Semitic rant, making the comment that ``The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world'' and asking Mee, ``Are you a Jew?''

During an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Mee said he considered Gibson's arrest routine and didn't take the actor's comments seriously.

``That stuff is booze talking,'' said Mee, who is Jewish.

He also said he regrets the damage to Gibson's reputation, but hopes Gibson will never again drink and drive.

Gibson himself, noting that he has had a lifelong battle with alcoholism, had issued an apology over the weekend for his ``despicable'' statements. He reportedly checked himself into the Passages treatment facility in Malibu on Monday.

Michael Gennaco, who heads the Office of Independent Review, which oversees the Sheriff's Department, visited the Malibu sheriff's station Monday to investigate whether Hollywood stars are coddled by the nation's largest sheriff's agency.

``It's clear in some cases that people are given preferential treatment, but sometimes that's warranted,'' Gennaco said. ``When there is a high-profile celebrity in jail, those people are treated different because of security reasons. But in this case, we'll have to see whether or not the reasons for any alleged special treatment were within the discretion of the department.''

Gennaco also said he was investigating who leaked Sheriff's Department notes to the media, a violation of department policy.

The ``despicable'' statements by Gibson, director of ``The Passion of the Christ'' who has starred in dozens of movies, including ``Braveheart'' and the ``Lethal Weapon'' series, has sparked an uproar in the entertainment community.

They also drew criticism from the Anti-Defamation League, calling his apology ``unremorseful and insufficient.'' But the Catholic League issued a statement supporting Gibson, who is a member of a conservative faction of the Roman Catholic Church.

``Mel's enemies will never cut him a break,'' according to the Catholic League statement. ``Their real goal is to discredit `The Passion of the Christ.' ... How ironic it is to note that the core message of his film - forgiveness - is sorely lacking in his critics.''

The arrest has also raised the question of whether the Sheriff's Department gives special treatment to Hollywood stars.

Civil-rights attorneys Leo James Terrell of Beverly Hills and Stephen Yagman of Venice both said celebrities do get preferential treatment.

``From time to time, people who are celebrities who come into contact with the department are given slack,'' Yagman said. ``Some people in the Sheriff's Department are not into that kind of thing. Others are.

``And I think the ones who are do it both because they are in awe of celebrities and also because they kind of know there is a general preference on the part of Sheriff Baca to use celebrities to further the sheriff's goals.''

County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich also weighed in, saying everyone should be treated equally by the Sheriff's Department.

``Anyone detained or arrested by the Sheriff's Department should be treated fairly and without any preferential treatment, regardless of their status or celebrity,'' he said.

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

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(color) Sheriff's Deputy James Mee speaks to a reporter Monday as he arrives home in Calabasas. Mee said he considered celebrity Mel Gibson's drunk-driving arrest routine.

Nick Ut/Associated Press