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Rip Torn's Ripped Drunk Antics Endeared Him To Neighbors
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 2, 2010
Modified Feb 2, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 2, 2010
Modified Feb 2, 2010
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that Rip Torn broke into while drunk. The actor, who was found by police with his fly open and armed with a .22-caliber gun, thought he was in his own Salisbury, CT home, but in non-wasted "reality" he was actually in the Litchfield Bancorp! The Post decides that though the bank "looks nothing like Torn's house, the two-story yellow Colonial does not resemble a commercial building and could be mistaken for a home—especially to someone who was smashed." (Torn's blood alcohol level was 0.203, over double the legal limit.)
While Torn has a history of drunken incidents, the Hartford Courant reports, "Torn is a widely known and beloved figure around Salisbury, especially within the town's active winter bar scene." A bookstore owner said, "Salisbury is a town that observes a great New England tradition. Eccentrics abound, and they are usually happily tolerated, if not loved." And another resident, "Oh, isn't it just delicious, a man his age still tearing up the town. The New York tabloids are going to tear him apart for this, but around here people still love him. Rip is Rip."
Torn, who posted $100,000 bail after being charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, carrying a firearm while intoxicated, first-degree burglary, first-degree criminal trespass and third-degree criminal mischief, is entering rehab in upstate NY. Which might be relief to one local, who told the Courant, "Everybody loves Rip, but he wasn't good at letting us help him. He would get way too much in him and then insist on driving home by himself, refusing to let us run him back. I know of at least one bar that asked him not to come back for that reason, and I guess that's what caught up with him the other night."
Tagged
bank robbery
colonial house
connecticut
drunk
home
rehab
Rip Torn
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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