Actress Tatum O'Neal has been put under arrest for purchasing crack from a dealer in New York, The Associated Press reported.

Police said the 44-year-old Academy Award-winning actress was caught exactly when she was trying to buy the illegal substance near her Manhattan home. She was arrested at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday by detectives from Manhattan South Narcotics on Clinton Street between East Broadway and Grand Street.

When the detectives approached her, the actress argued that she was actually doing it as research for a part as a junkie, according to The New York Post which quoted one of its sources.

“When the police approached, she asked them, ‘You know who I am, right?’ “

"Then she said, 'I'm researching a part - I'm doing this for a part' " as a junkie

The daughter of actor Ryan O'Neal is facing charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor. She is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

It is unknown if she has an attorney, police said.

Tatum O'Neal stars in the cable television series "Rescue Me" and won Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in 1973's "Paper Moon". She was 10 years old then and she became the youngest actor to receive that trophy.

O'Neal wrote about her struggle with drug addiction in a memoir entitled "A Paper Life."
She is the ex-wife of tennis star John McEnroe. The couple had three children.