Actor Rip Torn heading to rehab after bank break-in

Rip Torn (real name Elmore Torn) was arrested Friday, Jan. 29, 2010, after breaking into a closed Litchfield Bancorp branch office in Salisbury, Connecticut with a loaded revolver.

Arrest, charges and arraignment
In an arrest report, Police said that they responded to an alarm and found Torn "highly intoxicated."

They then arrested the 78-year-old “30 Rock” actor and charged him with multiple counts including burglary, trespassing, carrying a firearm while intoxicated and carrying a weapon without a permit.

Torn, who has previous arrests for drunken driving, was arraigned in a Connecticut court Monday where he was released on $100,000 bond. He posted the bail with help from a bail bondsman.

Request for rehab
During Monday’s arraignment in Superior Court in Bantam, an attorney for Torn, A. Thomas Waterfall, told Judge John W. Pickard that his client needs help with his alcohol abuse and that he can start treatment as soon as Tuesday morning in New York state.

Dressed in black pants, a blue, plaid shirt and a Navy blue jacket, Torn slowly walked in to the court to face the charges, and after the arraignment left the courthouse without comment.

However, his lawyer talked to the media persons gathered outside the court, saying, "He's a great man. He's a very nice person, a very friendly individual. And obviously this is a very serious event."

"He will enter rehab on Tuesday," Waterfall told reporters yesterday after the arraignment.

Judge Pickard scheduled Torn's next court date for Feb. 17 in the Part A courthouse in Litchfield, which handles serious cases.

As a condition of his release, the actor must be evaluated for substance abuse, Pickard said.

Torn’s dramatic arrest
The details Torn’s lawyer provided about the actor’s dramatic arrest show that a night of drinking, Torn was headed home to his modest clapboard house on Farnum Road, just around the corner from the bank that is built in a remodeled clapboard home and looks remarkably like Torn's house.

Waterfall said the actor believed he was at home. When Torn’s key didn't work, he broke a window to get inside and then neatly placed his cowboy boots and a wool cap by the back door, according to seattletimes.com.

"Mr Torn believed he was at home," Waterfall told Reuters. "Based upon that belief he would not have the necessary intent to commit a crime."

According to the police report, the troopers tested Torn at 2 1/2 times the legal limit of alcohol, he looked unsteady on his feet, and he was carrying a loaded .22 revolver.

But, Waterfall said: "Clearly, there is no allegation he was brandishing a weapon in any manner, nor did he threaten anyone in any way."

Waterfall said he expected Torn to plead not guilty at his next court hearing on Feb. 17.