Actor Elmore “Rip” Torn was arrested for allegedly breaking into a local bank while intoxicated and armed with a loaded revolver.
Torn allegedly forced his way into the Litchfield Bancorp building, setting off an alarm in the process.
State police from the Troop B barracks in North Canaan were alerted to the situation and quickly arrived on the scene.
When the police arrived at the bank, they found Torn “with a loaded revolver and was highly intoxicated,” according to a police news release.
Torn had allegedly entered the bank through a back window, tearing a screen in the process. Despite the commotion, the front of the bank appeared untouched, as did the left and right sides.
Torn was taken into custody without incident and transported back to the Troop B barracks where he was processed.
He is currently being held there on a $100,000 cash bond and is scheduled to appear at Bantam Superior Court.
The actor has been 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, who is 78 years old and a resident of Salisbury, has had previous run-ins with the law. In December 2008, he was arrested for drunken driving, but was not sent to jail.
Instead, he was ordered to attend an alcohol education program.
Torn also has two previous drunken driving charges against him in New York. He was acquitted by a jury in a 2004 drunken driving case, and in a second case, he pleaded guilty in 2007 to a lesser charge of being ability impaired.
Police have refused to release a videotape of Torn’s 2008 arrest, which reportedly shows him acting belligerently towards officers. The actor was granted special probation, and the tape is not available to the public as a result.
In court, Bantam Superior Court Judge Corinne Klatt approved Torn’s application for the alcohol education program.
Due to Torn’s hearing difficulties, the judge also ordered him to undergo an evaluation for a possible hearing disability before he could get his driver’s license back.
Torn’s previous conviction in New York for driving while impaired did not disqualify him from the alcohol education program.
Since he qualified for the program under state law, the prosecutor did not object. Torn’s attorney, A. Thomas Waterfall, stated that the actor was “very happy” that the judge thought the program was appropriate in his case.
Torn’s 2008 arrest occurred when a bartender at the White Hart Inn reportedly served him alcohol, despite noticing that he appeared intoxicated.
Torn allegedly refused a ride home and was subsequently pulled over by state trooper Roy Dungan.
Torn failed field sobriety tests and was uncooperative with the officer. He reportedly told the trooper that he was also a police officer and showed him a New York auxiliary police officer identification.
Much of Torn’s responses during the arrest were slurred and punctuated with profanities.
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.
