Ryan O’Neal Accused Of Assaulting Son
Posted February 5, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Oscar-nominated actor Ryan O’Neal was arrested over the weekend in connection with an alleged assault on his 42-year-old son.
The 65-year-old star of Love Story and Paper Moon was taken into custody following an apparent confrontation with Griffin O’Neal at a home in Malibu, Calif. The elder O’Neal is accused of assault with a deadly weapon and negligent discharge of a firearm.
The circumstances of the incident aren’t clear, but the actor’s manager Neil Hassman said O’Neal was forced to defend himself after his son picked up a fireplace poker and started “wildly swinging” it. In the commotion, Griffin O’Neal’s pregnant girlfriend was injured – by Griffin O’Neal, Hassman contends – and had to be taken to hospital. She was treated and released.
“It is unfortunate that what should have been an internal family disagreement was escalated to the point that Ryan felt he had to defend himself from Griffin’s aggressive, extremely menacing physical behaviour,” Hassman said in a statement.
O’Neal is free on US$50,000 bond.
Police say they were called to the actor’s home at about 12:30am Saturday “regarding a battery that had occurred,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. John Benedict.
Benedict wouldn’t speculate on what may have precipitated the dispute.
O’Neal received an Academy Award nomination for his work in Love Story. He also had roles in Barry Lyndon, Green Ice, and Paper Moon, a film that garnered a supporting actress Oscar for his co-star and daughter Tatum O’Neal.
Griffin O’Neal, the child of Ryan O’Neal and first wife Joanna Moore, has been in trouble with the law before. He pleaded no contest to a drunk driving charge in 1989, then pleaded no contest to charges in 1992 that he shot at his estranged girlfriend’s car. He was also sentenced to 18 days in jail after failing to perform 400 hours of community service. That punishment was in relation to a boating accident that killed Francis Ford Coppola’s son Gian-Carlo – O’Neal was found guilty of reckless boating in the 1986 incident.
Ryan O’Neal also has a son, Redmond, with actress Farrah Fawcett. The two were involved for years but never married.
Photo Credit: Carlo Allegri, Getty Images
Sign up for a del.icio.us account here to save your bookmarks for free online.
