Actor Rip Torn arrested, charged with breaking into local bank with loaded gun

Actor Rip Torn is shown in a mugshot from an earlier New York state drunken driving arrest. The picture became an Internet station. Actor Rip Torn is shown in a mugshot from an earlier New York state drunken driving arrest. The picture became an Internet station. Photo: AP Photo: AP Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Actor Rip Torn arrested, charged with breaking into local bank with loaded gun 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

SALISBURY - Actor Elmore "Rip" Torn was arrested Friday night for allegedly breaking into a Main Street bank intoxicated, armed with a loaded revolver.

Torn allegedly forced entry into a Litchfield Bancorp building, at 326 Main St., setting off an alarm, state police from the Troop B barracks in North Canaan said today. When police responded to the alarm around 9:40 p.m. they found Torn "with a loaded revolver and was highly intoxicated," according to a police news release.

Torn allegedly entered the bank through a back window, police confirmed. The small bank appeared untouched in the front and on its left and right sides. A screen resting adjacent to the window was also torn.

The actor was taken into custody without incident, and transported back to the Troop B barracks where he was processed. He is being held there on a $100,000 cash bond and is scheduled to appear at Bantam Superior Court on Monday, Feb. 1, police said.

Torn was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, carrying a firearm while intoxicated, first-degree burglary, first-degree criminal trespass and third-degree criminal mischief.

Torn, 78, a Salisbury resident, did not go to jail for a December 2008 drunken driving incident, and was expected to attend a weekend alcohol education program instead.

He had two previous drunken driven charges against him in New York. He was acquitted by a jury in a 2004 drunken driving case and, in a second case, pleaded guilty in 2007 to a lesser charge of being ability impaired, according to published reports.

Police refused to release a videotape of that incident, which allegedly showed him acting belligerently toward officers, because he was granted special probation.

Bantam Superior Court Judge Corinne Klatt approved Torn's application for the state-approved program. Because Torn had difficulty hearing the judge during that proceeding, she ordered him to submit to an evaluation for a possible hearing disability before he could receive his driver's license back.

A previous conviction in New York for driving while impaired did not disqualify Torn from the program. He was acquitted on an earlier charge of drunken driving in that state. Since Torn qualified for the program under state law, the prosecutor did not object.

"Mr. Torn was very happy that the judge thought the Alcohol Education Program was appropriate in his case," said Torn's attorney, A. Thomas Waterfall.

Torn was charged with illegal operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence and failure to drive in the proper lane on Dec. 14, 2008.

A bartender at the White Hart Inn reportedly served Torn, but apparently noticed he appeared intoxicated as he was leaving the establishment, according to a police report. Torn reportedly refused a ride home.

State Trooper Roy Dungan followed Torn as he drove a 1994 Subaru Legacy with a Christmas tree tied on top on Route 44. Torn failed field sobriety tests and was not fully cooperative with the trooper, police said.

Torn reportedly told the trooper he, too, was a police officer and showed him a New York auxiliary police officer identification. Torn also mentioned he was an actor, Dugan said. Much of his slurred responses were punctuated with profanities, Dungan said, and Torn reportedly told Dungan he would go to jail, too.

A microphone in Dungan's pocket and the video camera attached to the rearview mirror in his cruiser captured the arrest, Dungan said. The video tape may eventually become an exhibit at trial, but is not available to the public, police said.

Torn could not complete all three of the field sobriety tests, police said. He had a difficult time following instructions for the horizontal nystagmus gaze test and was unable to complete the walk-and-turn test, Dungan said.

"That's where things fell apart. He started to walk away," the trooper said.

Torn complained the China Inn parking lot was not level ground as he staggered toward the road.

"At that point, I put the handcuffs on him," Dungan said.

Instead of attending the 10 or 15 classes offered by the state, Torn was approved to attend the Amethyst Foundation Inc. in Epping, N.Y. The agency is a private, nonprofit organization that offers an intensive weekend substance abuse program.

Torn, a Salisbury resident, is an award-winning actor in film and theater and for the last 50 years has starred in popular films such as "Dodgeball," where he throws wrenches at geeks in tights, and "Men in Black" with Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. Most recently Torn played the role of Josh Hartnett's father in the film "August" and in "Happy Tears" with Parker Posey and Demi Moore, and as a lead in the recently released film, "The Golden Boys" as Captain Jeremiah Burgess.