Actor Rip Torn Charged with DUI

According to E-online, 77 year old actor, Rip Torn, was recently arrested in Connecticut for driving under the influence (DUI).  This past Monday, the 30 Rock costar pled guilty to his criminal charges, two DUI counts, that resulted from his DUI arrest on December 14, 2008.

Connecticut police report that Torn was charged with illegal operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence and failure to drive in the proper lane.   Police stopped Torn when they noticed that he was driving erratically through the breakdown lane of Route 44 with a Christmas tree tied to the roof of his vehicle.  They reported that Rip Torn lives near the New York border, in Salisbury, CT.

When police stopped Torn for suspected DUI, he failed his field sobriety tests (FST) and then refused to perform additional FSTs because he claimed that the ground was not level enough.  He outright refused to consent to a breath alcohol test. 

This is not Torn's first DUI offense.  In 2007, he pled guilty to driving while impaired in New York.  He was ordered to pay a monetary fine and also lost his driving privileges.  In 2004, he was acquitted by a jury after he caused a motor vehicle accident while driving drunk in Manhattan.

Torn is best known for his role on 30 Rock, and for his roles in the Men in Black films and also Dodgeball, where he played opposite actors Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn.

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