Lindsay Lohan was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident early this morning after allegedly clipping a pedestrian in downtown Manhattan.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, Lindsay was pulling in to park her Porsche Cayenne near the Dream Hotel in downtown NYC when — at a very low speed — she allegedly hit the knee of a 30-something year old guy. That was around shortly after midnight.

We’re told one of Lindsay’s passengers in the SUV got out and checked the vehicle for damage, and then LiLo and co. went inside the hotel.

We’re told someone called police while Lindsay was inside … and when she walked out of the hotel — around 2:30AM ET — officers arrested her.

According to our sources … Lindsay was taken to the station, fingerprinted, photographed and booked for leaving the scene of an accident — a misdemeanor — and then released with a desk appearance ticket … meaning she did not have to pay bail before release.

We’re told alcohol was not involved.

We’re told the alleged victim was hospitalized … however, he was not knocked down or dragged, and didn’t have any visible injuries.

This arrest could absolutely trigger a probation violation in Lindsay’s jewelry theft case because one of the conditions of probation is she OBEY ALL LAWS.

Even without a conviction, Judge Stephanie Sautner — the judge in the jewelry theft case — could haul Lindsay’s butt into court if there’s probable cause to believe she committed a crime.

6:00 AM PT — Lindsay is telling friends she had no idea she hit anybody and it wasn’t until she came out and got arrested that she knew anything was going on.

As for the story about one of the passengers in her SUV getting out of the car and checking for damages, she says it never happened. Nobody ever got out of the car.

Lohan is calling the incident “really fishy” because the man didn’t appear to have any visible injuries and feels she’s the victim of a set up. She’s not going to let the incident go and is planning on fighting it to the end

–TMZ