Escalade curse?: Bruce Jenner latest to find trouble

LOS ANGELES — Besides celebrity status, what does Bruce Jenner have in common with Justin Bieber, Tiger Woods and Paris Hilton?

All have found their share of trouble in a Cadillac Escalade.

Jenner was only the latest and his case was, by far, the most tragic. The Olympian was driving a black Escalade towing a trailer Saturday when he was involved in a multicar crash that resulted in the death of a 69-year-old woman in Malibu, the seaside city north of Los Angeles. Jenner was unhurt.

It's not that there's anything about the Escalade that lends itself to celebrities and their issues per se. Rather, the SUV keeps turning up in the gossip rags simply because it is the vehicle of choice for so many celebrities, a luxurious fortress on wheels that lends itself to the glamorous, protected lifestyle.

Indeed, out of all the escapades in Escalades, the vehicle has done its job: Celebrities have generally escaped serious injuries when crashes are reported in the big General Motors-built SUV. That may be a factor explaining why the SUV remains so popular — especially at a time when much of the rest of motoring America has been downsizing into smaller, lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Still, Escalade can't seem to stay out of the headlines:

• Paris Hilton was arrested in an Escalade on the Las Vegas Strip in 2010 when a passing police officer detected marijuana smoke from it. Hilton was arrested for cocaine possession.

• Tiger Woods smashed his Escalade into a fire hydrant in 2009 in his Florida neighborhood right before a string of disclosures about alleged mistresses. Wood's then-wife broke the vehicle's windows with a golf club to help extract him from the wreck.

• Atlanta police seized an Escalade being used by singer Justin Bieber after finding marijuana in it last year, TMZ reported. Bieber was not implicated, but the vehicle was towed away by the cops. A few months later, TMZ said Bieber was riding in an Escalade that was involved in a crash in Beverly Hills as he was being pursued by paparazzi.