The rapper and actress - who starred in "XXX" alongside Vin Diesel - narrowly escaped death after she drove her gold Maserati into the central reservation on Hollywood Boulevard at around 2.45 a.m. yesterday (April 26, 2007).

The star - full name Eve Jeffers - was handcuffed by police and taken in a squad car to the Los Angeles County Jail. A witness said: "She was visibly upset. The car was totaled."

There were reportedly two passengers in the vehicle at the time.

In a bizarre twist, Eve was visited in jail by Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn, who was seen leaving the police station in a taxi at 4 a.m..

A police source told gossip website TMZ.com: "He came to see how Eve was doing."

It is not known if Penn had been out with Eve earlier that night.

The Grammy-award winning artist - who has her own self-titled sitcom - was later released on bail and picked up in another Maserati.