Lamar Odom -- Car Crash Days Before DUI Arrest

Lamar Odom allegedly pulled a Kylie Jenner just 6 days before his DUI arrest -- rear-ending another car and causing a chain-reaction collision on an L.A. freeway.

The 3-car accident occurred at around 6 PM on the 101 Freeway -- the same freeway on which Lamar was popped for DUI on Friday morning.

So how did the media find out about the story? Turns out ... the person Lamar hit is a reporter for the L.A. Times. It's unclear why the Times waited so long to publish the story.

According to the reporter, Lamar's white Mercedes slammed into the back of his ride near the Gower Street exit.

After the collision, the reporter says he tried to swap insurance info with Odom ... but the NBA star was resistant ... and insisted the damage "doesn't even look that bad."

Eventually, the reporter says he obtained Odom's insurance info ... but when he tried to give the insurance card back to Lamar, he bizarrely resisted at first ... before realizing he needed to have his insurance card to drive.

The reporter says the accident was not reported to the cops.