Director Accused of DUI, Drug Possession

Oliver Stone, the Oscar-winning director of “Platoon” and “Born on the Fourth of July,” was arrested Friday night on suspicion of drunk driving and drug possession and released on bail after almost seven hours in custody, Beverly Hills police said Saturday.

This is the second time Stone has faced such charges.

In September 1999, he pleaded guilty to drug possession and no contest to driving under the influence and was ordered into a rehabilitation program. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed at the time to drop two felony counts of possessing controlled substances.

In the latest incident, Stone’s Mercedes-Benz was stopped about 11:30 p.m. Friday in the 9300 block of Sunset Boulevard, where police had set up a checkpoint for drunk drivers. Police said Stone seemed possibly drunk.

After a sobriety test, he was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor driving under the influence and felony possession of a controlled substance.

Beverly Hills Police Sgt. John Edmundson said Saturday that he could not immediately disclose the type of controlled substance that officers reported finding until their suspicions were confirmed by an analysis.

Stone, 58, was booked at the Beverly Hills Jail at 11:45 p.m. and released at 6:30 a.m. Saturday after posting bail of $15,000, police said.

There was no immediate response to an e-mail and a telephone message left Saturday with Stone’s agent, David Styne of Creative Artists Agency in Beverly Hills.

Stone won Academy Awards for best director in 1987 for “Platoon” and in 1990 for “Born on the Fourth of July.”