Emmy Award-winning actor Rip Torn may be heading to the big house. On Wednesday, a judge ruled against his request for a special probation program, stating the charges are too significant to qualify him. Rip Torn was arrested earlier this year in January for breaking into a Connecticut bank, drunk and armed.
Rip Torn is up against numerous criminal charges
Elmore Rual Torn, best known as Rip Torn, has had issues with alcohol-related occurrences in the past. The latest drunken incident took place in Salisbury, Conn., where Torn was arrested for allegedly breaking into a local branch office of Litchfield Bancorp during closing hours when loaded with a firearm without a permit. Police were quick to respond to an alarm that went off at the bank location. Inside the facility, they found the Men in Black actor wandering with a loaded .22-caliber pistol. According to court records, Torn had a blood-alcohol level of 0.203, almost three times the lawful limit for Connecticut drivers.
According to the Associated Press, Torn has pleaded not guilty to second-degree criminal trespassing, carrying a firearm when intoxicated, carrying a weapon without a permit and third-degree criminal mischief.
Other drunken incidents of Rip Torn
In early 2004, Torn was arrested after his car crashed into a taxi within the Big Apple. Aired on television news was an angry Rip Torn cursing at police officers and refusing to take a breathalyzer test. That year in October he was acquitted from all charges. Just two years later, in December of 2006, the actor crashed into a tractor trailer in North Salem, New York, and he was again arrested for drunk driving. He pleaded guilty to the charges, temporarily lost his driver license for 90 days and was told to pay a $ 380 fine.
Judge says no to probation
Too bad for Rip Torn, Litchfield Superior Court Judge James Ginocchio has ruled the charges placed on Rip Torn, 79, after the January Connecticut bank break-in are too significant to qualify him for the probation program called accelerated rehabilitation. Torn was still in a court-ordered alcohol education program from a previous DUI charge at the time of the bank break-in, and that fact certainly doesn’t help his situation. A court-ordered evaluation of Torn’s alcohol dependency troubles was requested by his lawyer, and depending on the results, Torn could possibly be ordered to undertake a state-monitored treatment for up to two years before charges could be dropped.
Additional reading
Yahoo News
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100811/ap_on_en_tv/us_people_rip_torn_12
