Lindsay Lohan's lawyer on Tuesday slammed police for saying the actress violated her probation in a skirmish with a worker at the California rehab center where she spent three months in treatment.

Lohan, 24, completed her court-ordered rehab on Monday at the Betty Ford Center near Palm Springs, and on Tuesday was seen for the first time at a posh hotel in Beverly Hills with her father and her "Freaky Friday" co-star Jamie Lee Curtis.

But her legal troubles were far from over after police in Riverside, California, said Lohan should be charged with battery over a December skirmish with a Betty Ford Center worker, even though the victim wants the case dropped.

If a formal charge is filed by prosecutors, it could mean Lohan violated her probation on a 2007 drunk driving and drug conviction and a judge might decide to send her to jail.

Lohan is accused of pushing staff member Dawn Holland on December 12 and snatching a telephone from her hand after being asked to take an alcohol breath test at the Betty Ford Center.

"The investigation determined Ms. Lohan violated several aspects of her probation, including the battery," Riverside police said in a statement.

Lohan's lawyer Shawn Holley Chapman on Tuesday fired back, saying police had overstepped their bounds. "The fact that the Palm Desert Police Department...(issued) a press statement expressing its opinion about what should happen in Ms. Lohan's case is highly unusual and deeply troubling," she said.

Police said they had sent the case to prosecutors for a decision on possible charges.

Lohan's stay at Betty Ford was her fifth stint in rehab in three years and came after she failed a random drug test while on probation for the 2007 drunk driving and drug conviction.

She managed to evade the waiting media when leaving the center, but celebrity website Radaronline on Tuesday posted grainy video of Lohan hugging Curtis in the lobby of a Beverly Hills hotel that is often frequented by celebrities.

"I'm doing fine. It's so great to see you," Lohan told Curtis, according to the post on Radaronline. The two starred in the 2003 hit "Freaky Friday" when Lohan was considered one of the most promising young actresses in Hollywood.

Lohan, who lost her starring role in an upcoming movie about 1970s porn star Linda Lovelace due to her personal problems, is due back in court in Beverly Hills for a progress hearing in February. Last year she spent two stints in jail for violating probation on the conviction.