Courtesy of E! online
Apparently, Tatum O'Neal just can't shake those demons.
The former child star, whose autobiography, A Paper Life, once related tales of elicit drug use and her struggles with heroin addiction, was arrested Sunday night outside her New York City pad after purchasing crack cocaine.
Per NYPD spokesman Mike Wysokowski, the 44-year-old O'Neal was taken into custody around 7:30 p.m. in what was described as a routine drug sweep after cops witnessed her giving money to a street dealer three blocks from her East Broadway apartment in the Lower East Side.
A quick search turned up two bags—one with crack and the other filled with regular cocaine—along with an unused crack pipe.
Sources told the New York Daily News that the actress originally told officers that she was just "doing research for a part," but once they found the narcotics and paraphernalia, she burst into tears and pleaded for them to cut her a break.
"I've been clean for a long time. Today was the first time I was relapsing, but you guys saved me! Can you let me go?" " O'Neal reportedly admitted.
She was subsequently taken to Manhattan Central Booking and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor.
The suspected dealer, 33-year-old homeless man Allen Garcia, was also arrested and charged with felony sale of a controlled substance.
O'Neal, of course, is best known for becoming the youngest person ever to win an Academy Award when she snagged a Best Supporting Actress trophy for playing a Depression-era child grifter opposite dad Ryan O'Neal in 1973's Paper Moon, directed by Peter Bogdanovich.
The thespian went on to star in 1976's The Bad News Bears, 1978's International Velvet and 1980's Little Darlings. However as she detailed in her 2004 bestselling memoir, a chaotic childhood in the spotlight along with physical and emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of her father and battles with depression quickly caught up with her and she became hooked on drugs.
In the '80s, O'Neal got sober and took a hiatus from acting when she tied the knot with tennis great John McEnroe in 1986. However after having three children, the couple divorced in 1992 and she resumed using again.
The performer returned to the big screen in the mid-'90s with a small part in Basquiat. Recent credits include guest stints on TV's Sex and the City, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, and a recurring role on F/X's Rescue Me. She also competed in the second season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars.
Neither an attorney for O'Neal nor a publicist could be reached for comment.
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