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Lawyer: Rip Torn Headed To Rehab

Police Said Torn Broke Into Bank Thinking It Was His Home

POSTED: 11:40 am EST February 1, 2010
UPDATED: 5:57 pm EST February 1, 2010

Rip Torn was so intoxicated when he broke into the Litchfield Bancorp bank carrying a loaded gun that he thought he was home, taking off his hat and boots and leaving them by the door, according to court records.

The 78-year-old actor was wearing the same battered boots Monday when he was arraigned on several charges after spending the weekend in a police holding cell near his hometown of Salisbury.

Torn, who did not enter a plea, was released on $100,000 bond a few hours later and waded through a phalanx of media to a friend's waiting vehicle. He smiled and wished onlookers a nice day but did not answer questions about the arrest.

He is expected to enter an alcohol rehabilitation center in New York as early as Tuesday, according to his attorney.

Torn was given probation last year in a Connecticut drunken driving case and allowed to enter an alcohol education program. He completed the first stage of that program.

He also has two previous drunken driving arrests in New York.

"The history here is clear that there's an alcohol issue that needs to be addressed," his attorney, A. Thomas Waterfall, told Bantam Superior Court Judge John W. Pickard on Monday.

The "Men in Black" actor is accused of breaking into the Litchfield Bancorp branch on Main Street in Salisbury through a window Friday night, where officers responding to an alarm found him wandering in the lobby and nearly incoherent.

According to court records, Torn was disoriented, reeked of alcohol and asked the state police troopers repeatedly why they were taking him out of his home.

"Obviously, he wasn't there intending to commit a crime, in my estimation," Waterfall said.

Officers found a loaded .22-caliber revolver in Torn's pocket, according to court records, and a breath test showed his blood-alcohol content as 0.203 percent - more than twice the 0.08 legal limit for driving in Connecticut.

Torn was charged with burglary, criminal mischied, carrying a firearm while intoxicated, trespassing and possession of a firearm without a permit.

He remembers nothing of that night, Waterfall said Monday after the arraignment.

"He's a very nice person, a very friendly individual. Obviously this is a serious event, so we will deal with it as we go on," Waterfall said.

Torn never brandished the weapon when the officers confronted him, according to Waterfall and the court records, and has no history of violence. His permit to carry a firearm in Connecticut had expired in October 2007.

Torn is scheduled to return to Litchfield Superior Court on Feb. 17.

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