People are regularly searching for the dirt on Robert Downey Jr's arrest history. Instead of stodgy wikipedia references, here are the dates and basic factoids mixed in with a slightly funny commentary. (Emphasis on the slightly)




Robert Downey Jr arrested for drunk driving, possession of heroin, and possession of an unloaded pistol (2 August 1996)
At age 31, squeaky clean Downey Jr is pulled over on Sunset Boulevard. Hoping for a speeding ticket only, he sits quietly drunk in his pick-up truck. The officer with no interest in Hollywood celebrities, rattles off one charge after another. Robert Downey Jr watches a lot of shit hit the fan in double vision.

This was Mr Jr's first reported brush with the law and he was given a suspended prison sentence of 3 years, and granted probation with requirements of random drug testing and drug counselling.

Robert Downey Jr remanded to a secure drug rehabilitation center. (August 1996)
These rehab centers are secure, so the inmates can't get access to drugs during their internment. Mr Downey Jr, discovered that they are as drug-free as Scottish prisons.

Robert Downey Jr Probation revoked after continued drug use. (17 October 1997)
All good things come to an end, and when the free hand-outs at the rehab center ran dry, he had to go back to buying drugs on the street. Well, not your ordinary litter-strewn junkie-on-every-corner street. More, a ritzy club with glittering show girls located just off the high street? Anyway, high as a kite on his kind of street smack, the celebrity forgot he was liable for random drug testing just like any other junkie on probation - and got caught.

Robert Downey Jr Jailed for 180 days for violating probation. (December 1997)
The court found the caught-out actor guilty as charged and he ended up with a 6-month jail sentence. It was not exactly a re-run of Midnight Express behind bars, but according to Wikipedia, He got into fight with another inmate at the Los Angeles County Jail... and was treated for a cut over his nose. (13 February 1998).

This sounds more like a re-run of Handbags at Dawn, but presumably the cut really hurt - like did someone rub their salt and vinegar chips into the open wound, or something like that? A true actorrrrrr.

Downey released from jail to complete his six-month jail sentence at a drug rehabilitation center. (31 March 1998)
Does this sound like a pattern about to repeat? The judge thought so too. To mix it up and add some variety to the screwed-up judicial procedure, Downey was freed to work on a movie.

He was also going to give talks to schoolkids about the evils of drugs, but got sidetracked by a pusher in the playground.

I will have to do some more research, at which time, I will post more info on Robert Downey Jr arrests. Please check out the links at this Funny Celebrity News Swicki and make it an even better resource than the real wikipedia.