NEW YORK — Oscar-winner Tatum O’Neal was arrested Sunday for allegedly trying to buy crack cocaine near her New York City home.
The 44-year-old actress was seen making the illicit purchase around 7:30 p.m. Sunday. She was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to The Associated Press.
The New York Post reports that O’Neal told the arresting officers, “You know who I am, right?”
She is also said to have told officers on the scene that she was “researching a part — I’m doing this for a part as a junkie.”
“Can’t we just forget about this?” she said, according to the Post.
At the age of 10, O’Neal became the youngest person to win an Academy Award for her role as a child con-artist in the 1973 film “Paper Moon.”
The child star has long battled substance-abuse problems, which she has said began at the age of 14. She chronicled her addiction struggles in her 2004 memoir, A Paper Life.
O’Neal, who currently appears on the FX television series “Rescue Me,” is the daughter of actor Ryan O’Neal and was previously married to tennis star John McEnroe.
