Jun 3, 2008 9:30 am US/Eastern
Report: Tatum O'Neal Says Cops Saved Her Life
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Actress Tatum O'Neal reportedly said that the police officers who arrested her for drug possession actually rescued her.
According to the New York Post, O'Neal said the death of her dog prompted her to go out looking for drugs. But she said without the cops, she may gone further down the spiral.
Tatum O'Neal left Manhattan Criminal Court without saying a word after she was arrested during a routine drug sweep. Police said they found cocaine on the actress that she bought from a homeless drug dealer on Clinton Street near her home on the Lower East Side.
Prosecutors recommended drug treatment. While promoting her 2004 memoir, she talked about her troubled childhood and drug use on the Early Show on CBS.
"It made sense when I got older that I looked to kill the pain - but its not an excuse, cause I'm not big on blame," Tatum said.
Sources told CBS 2HD that when the cops conducted their sweep, O'Neal first asked if they knew who she was, then said she was researching a role and implored them to just let her go.
O'Neal's neighbors are surprised not only by the arrest but by the circumstances. "It doesn't seem like something you would do if you did not want to get caught. Why would she go on the street to score like that?" said bar owner Charles Hanson.
Neighbor Kiki Da Bahia said, "I hope she can get out of this situation really clean up herself."
O'Neal Won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress at age 10 for her role in 1973's "Paper Moon." She went from that career high to many documented lows.
"I felt loney, very sad, very lonely," Tatum said on the Early Show.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
WCBSTV.com's Most Popular Pages
