by Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Robert Downey Jr., the
Oscar-nominated actor whose career has been repeatedly derailed
by drugs, was arrested yesterday for allegedly taking an
unknown “stimulant,” police said, an offense that could send him
back to prison.
Downey, 36 — who spent a year in a California prison for
cocaine possession and faces trial stemming from a Palm Springs
drug arrest — was taken into custody just after midnight local
time (3 a.m. EDT) in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City, Lt.
Dave Tankenson said.
Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Tammy Capone, who
is prosecuting the Palm Springs case, told Reuters that Downey's
latest arrest could get him sent back to prison on a parole
violation.
Capone said that parole officials would review Downey's
Culver City arrest and would make a recommendation that could
include sending him back to prison or into mandatory drug
rehabilitation. She said she would take no action until parole
officials make their recommendation.
Downey, who stars in the Fox-TV hit Ally McBeal, was jailed
for several hours before he was released into the custody of his
parole officer and told to appear in court on May 4, Culver city
police spokesman Tankenson said.
Tankenson said an officer on routine patrol spotted Downey
alone in an alley between a motel and a liquor store acting in a
“suspicious” manner and approached, not aware that it was the
actor.
About a minute into their conversation, Tankenson said, the
officer noticed Downey “displaying symptoms consistent with
stimulant use” and arrested him, discovering his identity. He
said no drugs were found in Downey's possession and that he
cooperated with the officer.
Tankenson said a urine test would determine within several
days if Downey had been under the influence of a controlled
substance, which would likely lead to his being charged with
misdemeanor drug possession.
DOWNEY CHECKS INTO REHAB
Downey's publicist, Alan Nierob, said the actor, who has had
repeated brushes with the law over drugs, had “voluntarily
checked himself into an undisclosed rehabilitation facility.”
Nierob declined to comment further, referring calls to the
actor's criminal attorneys, who could not be reached for comment
on Tuesday afternoon.
Downey, who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in
Chaplin, is awaiting trial on drug charges in Riverside County,
east of Los Angeles, which could send him back to prison if he is
convicted.
Those charges stem from his November arrest at the Merv
Griffin Resort in Palm Springs resort hotel, where police acting
on an anonymous telephone tip allegedly found cocaine and the
prescription drug Valium in his room.
If convicted on the Palm Springs charges, Downey could be
sent back to prison for five years.
The actor is currently appearing as a guest star on Ally
McBeal, playing a lawyer and the love interest of Calista
Flockhart's title character.
He landed the role, which won him a Golden Globe award, just
one week after his release from prison last August.
© Reuters 2001. All rights reserved.
