Lukaku to pay $450 to escape jail

Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku will avoid the prospect of jail time by compensating police in Los Angeles for their repeated call-outs over loud parties in the summer.

Police said they arrested the 24-year-old after responding to five noise complaints in as many days at a Beverly Hills residence where he was staying.

The parties were held while Lukaku was on the verge of a £75million transfer to the Old Trafford club from Everton.

The Belgium frontman will pay $450 US (£340) to reimburse the force as part of a deal that will see the charge reduced from a misdemeanour which could have carried six months in jail, a Los Angeles court was told on Tuesday.

Commissioner Jane Godfrey, overseeing the case, said: “They are reaching a disposition in this case that the first thing that must happen is the defendant must pay Beverly Hills Police Department $450 for multiple response calls.”

The city will then reduce the charge to a disturbance of the peace infraction, which carries a $100 (£76) fine plus other costs and penalties, she said.

As a misdemeanour, the charge would have carried the maximum sentences of six months in county jail or a $1,000 (£760) fine, the commissioner added.

James Eckart, for the city, and Lukaku’s lawyer Robert Humphreys accepted the arrangement.

The striker’s signing by Manchester United was completed around eight days after his arrest by the force at around 8pm on July 2.

Days after the incident, he shared on Instagram a picture of himself in an apartment in the city with United midfielder Paul Pogba.

The case will return to Los Angeles Airport Courthouse on December 18 when Lukaku’s lawyer is expected to pay the $550 (£416) in fines and compensation, a $40 dollar fee as well as other undecided penalties.