Malibu, CA- Actor Michael Madsen most known for his role in Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” was arrested Wednesday for intoxicated driving and then spent the night in a local hospital.
Madsen, 54, was spotted, driving a red classic Pontiac GTO with a flame job, erratically down the pacific Coast Highway in Malibu at around 3p.m. A witness notified police who also observed Madsen weaving in and out of traffic.
According to Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the LAPD, Madsen performed poorly on a field sobriety test. A breathalyzer showed his blood alcohol level was .21, well above the state legal limit and he was placed under arrest.
While Madsen was being booked he complained of a medical problem and was taken to a local hospital where he was admitted and kept overnight for observation. Whitmore couldn’t say what the medical problem was because of the privacy issue.
Shortly after his arrest Madsen’s attorney told TMZ, the actor wants to reassure his fans that he did not fail the field sobriety test and “believes that the breathalyzer test is flawed.”
This is Madsen’s second arrest this year; in March he was arrested after he had a drunken dispute with one of his five sons, but charges were later dropped.
Madsen’s assertion about the breathalyzer has merit. When a DUI attorney is working on a defense they will approach the case from all angles and often challenge the results of a breathalyzer which can give false results if the equipment isn’t regularly maintained. Challenging a breathalyzer result is just one of defense strategies used to prevent a conviction for intoxicated driving.
