Tatum O’Neal Arrested

By: Shannon Gossage

O’Neal, 44, was seen buying the drugs in lower Manhattan and was arrested and charged with a class B felony of criminal sale of a controlled substance. Police found two packets of cocaine in her pants pocket at the time of her arrest. Allen Garcia, 32, reportedly sold the drugs to O’Neal and was also arrested. The two were booked at Manhattan’s 7th precinct. She was reportedly arraigned and released on bail a little after noon on Monday.

O’Neal reportedly said to the police officers, "You know who I am, right?" She also said that she was only "researching a part – I’m doing this for a part as a junkie." She also reportedly asked the officers if they could just forget the incident. O’Neal has reportedly been clean for years after a trip to rehab in 1996. She released a memoir in 2004 that detailed her struggle with drug addictions. She claims that she began doing drugs at age 14 starting with marijuana and Quaaludes and graduating to cocaine and heroin.

O’Neal is the daughter of actor Ryan O’Neal and actress Joanna Moore. She has said that she and her father have had a very tumultuous relationship and has described her mother as a "pill-popping mess." She married tennis superstar John McEnroe in 1986. The couple had a very rocky marriage and eventually divorced in 1992. The couple has three children – Kevin, Sean, and Emily. O’Neal’s drug addiction spun so out of control that she lost custody of her children. She is the youngest person to win an Academy Award. At the age of 10 she won for best supporting actress. In past years she has gotten her career back on track and has been a regular on "Rescue Me." O’Neal is due back in court on July 28.