Swerving All Over the Road, Cops Say

EXCLUSIVE

Rade Serbedzija -- who played Prince Kuragin in "Downton Abbey" and memorable movie villains -- nearly took out several cars before he was arrested for DUI ... according to cops.

Santa Monica cops tell us they got calls about a Lexus swerving all over the road last weekend. Once officers pulled him over ... they say they found an open bottle of whiskey, and 71-year-old Rade showed signs of intoxication.

We're told his field sobriety testing did not go well, and he blew over the legal limit.

The Croatian-born actor has starred in tons of American TV shows and movies ... playing bad guys in "Taken 2," "Mission: Impossible II" and "24" -- to name a few. He's even bigger back home, where he's been acting since the '60s.

Cops arrested and booked Rade for DUI. He was released after posting bail.