Lindsay Lohan 'actively looking' for Manhattan rentals

Anzuoni/AP

Lindsay Lohan has been busy spending time with her family in Long Island.

LOS ANGELES - Lindsay Lohan thinks her future is in the Big Apple - not the big house.

The "Mean Girls" actress is looking for a rental in Manhattan while her felony necklace theft case plays out in Los Angeles, her mom told the Daily News.

"She will be in New York a lot more going forward. She's actively looking for places in the city with her younger brother Michael," mom Dina Lohan said.

"She loves it here. And she has a lot of friends who already have places, so she might sublet."

The oft-rehabbed starlet is home with her family on Long Island this week, but must return to Los Angeles April 22 for a preliminary hearing in the bling bust.

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Cops say she stole a $2,500 diamond chain from a Venice, Calif., jewelry store in January. She insists the store loaned her the strand.

Lohan, 24, got good news Tuesday when prosecutors in another county dropped a battery case against her, citing "insufficient evidence."

The investigation stemmed from her alleged scuffle with a Betty Ford staffer in December.

"We always knew Lindsay was innocent. This shows the truth does prevail. We're really happy we can put this one behind us," Dina Lohan said.

She said LiLo hopes she can soon "move on" from the necklace case, too.

"We're taking everything one step at a time. But obviously we're all behind Lindsay on this. I watched all four hours of the [jewelry store] surveillance tape. They clearly loaned her that necklace."

She wouldn't comment on what legal strategy they'll employ if Lindsay is tossed in jail next month on a probation violation.

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The judge could lock her up immediately following the preliminary hearing - even before a jury trial - if she decides the actress more than likely violated probation in her back-to-back 2007 DUIs.

"We'll have to wait and see. Right now we're maintaining her innocence," Dina Lohan said.

In the meantime, she said, Lindsay is working on her sobriety. She "loves" her new talent agency, International Creative Management, and is considering several movie scripts while she helps cast "Growing Defiant," the Dina-produced movie about heroin-addicted kids starring son Michael, 23.

She said her daughter will continue renting her Venice Beach pad even after she signs a lease in New York.

"We're all in the entertainment business. We're all bi-coastal," she said.

ndillon@nydailynews.com

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