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Tatum O'Neal released after NYC drug arrest

Oscar-winning 44-year-old actress allegedly tried to buy crack cocaine

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  Tatum O’Neal arrested for drugs
June 2: Oscar-winning actress Tatum O’Neal was arrested for allegedly buying crack cocaine from a drug dealer in New York City. WNBC’s Tracie Strahan reports.

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msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 11:09 a.m. ET June 2, 2008

Oscar-winning actress Tatum O'Neal has been released after her drug arrest in lower Manhattan.

A misdemeanor complaint says police recovered two bags of cocaine from the actress' right front pants pocket when she was arrested around 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

No bail was set and none was requested by the prosecutor.

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O’Neal, daughter of actor Ryan O’Neal, appears regularly on the cable television series “Rescue Me” and was the youngest person to win an Oscar for her role in 1973’s “Paper Moon.”

She chronicled her struggles with addiction in her memoir, “A Paper Life.”

According to a report in the New York Daily News, citing a police source, O'Neal initially told police she was "doing research for a part."

When cops, involved in a narcotics sweep in the neighborhood, searched the actress, they found two bags of drugs — one crack, one regular cocaine — and a crack pipe.

According to the Daily News, O'Neal then changed her story, asking police for a break.

"Today was the first time I was relapsing, but you guys saved me! Can you let me go?"

Police could not say whether she had an attorney. Messages left for a publicist were not returned early Monday.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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