Michael Madsen leaves hospital after drunk-driving arrest

9/14/2012
BLADE STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
  • People-Madsen-Arrest

    associated press

  • Actor Michael Madsen
    Actor Michael Madsen

    LOS ANGELES -- Actor Michael Madsen was released from a hospital after being arrested for investigation of drunken driving on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, his attorney said Thursday.

    Madsen, 54, best known for the Quentin Tarantino movies Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, had complained of an undisclosed medical problem following his arrest Wednesday and has since been released, said lawyer Perry Wander.

    Madsen was arrested after driving erratically in a red Pontiac GTO on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. In a preliminary test, he had a blood alcohol level of 0.21, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

    Wander said Madsen had been taking prescription drugs that could have resulted in a faulty sobriety test.

    "Michael has been on prescription medication that easily could have made him look to be under the influence and caused him to fail the sobriety test," Wander said.

    In March, Madsen was arrested at his Malibu home after what detectives said was a drunken fight with his teenage son, but prosecutors declined to file charges because of a lack of evidence.

    .