18-year-old Barron Hilton has yet to really capture the world's imagination the way his older sisters Paris and Nicky have, his wealthy parents perhaps waiting until he turns 21 before gifting him with his very own orange-faced pet flack to encourage such profile-building. And while some suspected the Hilton family's dominant Shameless Famewhoring Gene may have skipped him entirely, the young heir may just have that Hilton magic after all, having been picked up this morning in Malibu for a DUI:

UPDATE: Gas station attendant down!

TMZ has learned 18-year-old Barron Hilton, Paris' little brother, was arrested for DUI in Malibu at 8:30 AM this morning!

Cops tell TMZ he was driving a black Mercedes on Pacific Coast Highway with a passenger -- not one of his sisters-- when he was pulled over at a 76 gas station.

He's currently in the process of being booked at the Lost Hills Sheriff's station -- the same place Mel Gibson was taken.

The obvious question this elicits: How and why was he drunk at 8:30 a.m? Two possibilities come to mind: One, that he had been drinking throughout the night and into the morning hours. This, of course, worries us, as Monday night Grey Goose-binges starring the world's most privileged minors can only spell disaster. The other isn't nearly as ominous, as it involves a champagne breakfast with the Hiltons at the Saddle Peak Lodge: Proposed as a get-together to help the young, wayward Hilton back on track over a delicious meal of wild boar sausages and waffles, it quickly devolved into Rick, Kathy, and the rest chugging flute after flute of Veuve Clicquot, lost in a cascade of giggles and fond reminiscences, while failing entirely to broach the serious subject of what reality shows and fragrance plans Barron has lined up for his future.

UPDATE: PageSix.com is reporting Barron hit a 76 station employee between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m. The worker was knocked to the ground, but isn't injured. Still, he insisted on calling the cops to the scene, cementing himself a permanent place in Hilton Family criminal history.

• Like His Big Sister, Paris' Bro Gets a DUI! [TMZ]
• Barron 'Crashed Into Worker' [pagesix.com]

Tags: barron hilton | celeb jurisprudence | drink driving | dui | paris hilton