Child Stars Behind Bars

Jermaine "Huggy" Hopkins

Famous at the age of 14 for his role as a troubled teen in the 1989 film Lean on Me, Jermaine "Huggy" Hopkins went on to star alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Queen Latifah in Juice as well as make appearances on TV shows like Murder One and Moesha. On December 12, 2011, the 38-year-old actor was pulled over in Arizona and arrested for allegedly arranging to buy 200 pounds of marijuana. The arrest came as part of a sting operation; Hopkins allegedly tried to buy the drugs from an undercover officer. Police say Hopkins traveled to Arizona from his home state of North Carolina to make the deal. A search of his SUV allegedly revealed $100,000 in cash. According to police, 100 pounds of marijuana was discovered at the actor's Arizona apartment. He was jailed on suspicion of two felony counts of possessing, transporting and trying to sell marijuana.

Mitchel Musso

Disney star Mitchel Musso, best known for his role as Miley Cyrus' sidekick Oliver on Hannah Montana, was arrested on suspicion of DUI in the early morning hours of Sunday, October 16. Musso, 20, was pulled over by Burbank, CA., police after failing to slow down at the scene of an accident. After a field sobriety test gave police reason to believe that Musso had been drinking, he was taken into custody. Musso, who also does the voice of Jeremy Johnson on Disney's Phineas and Ferb was released shortly after. Although Musso is under the legal drinking age, bail was waived because he has no prior record.

Brian Bonsall

Actor Brian Bonsall, 28, has come a long way from playing Andy Keaton, the wholesome youngest child on the popular 1980s sitcom Family Ties. Bonsall, who had a brief stint on Star Trek: The Next Generation as Alexander Rozhenko and a few other roles since his 78-episode run on Family Ties, has had several run-ins with the law, mostly stemming from his struggles with substance abuse. His rap sheet includes a 2001 DUI conviction, a 2004 arrest on suspicion of DUI and a 2007 arrest on charges of assault and false imprisonment after an argument with his girlfriend. Bonsall was sentenced to probation for the assault and later allegedly violated the terms of his probation. After he failed to make a 2008 court appearance regarding the alleged violation, police issued a warrant for his arrest. The law finally caught up with him December 9, 2009, when he was arrested at a Boulder, Colo., bar for allegedly assaulting his friend with a broken barstool.

Tatum O'Neal

44-year-old actress Tatum O'Neal who became famous at the age of 12 for her role in the 1976 Bad News Bears movie, felt depressed on June 1, 2008, and went out looking for drugs. She was arrested while attempting to buy cocaine and was found to have drugs and a crack pipe in her possession. Tatum, who had a long history of drug abuse, said she was doing research for a role. She was charged with a misdemeanor, criminal possession of a controlled substance. Authorities released her without bail. On July 2, 2008, O'Neal pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in connection with the arrest and agreed to spend two half-day sessions in a drug treatment program.

Danny Bonaduce

Now a successful TV personality and reality star, Bonduce got his start playing Danny Partridge on the TV series The Partridge Family. After the show was cancelled, he found other work, but was arrested on more than one occasion. He was arrested for possession of cocaine twice, once in California, 1985 and once in Florida, 1990, but most notably, he was arrested in 1991, for beating up Darius Barney, a transvestite hooker he had picked up. Barney wanted his money, but Bonaduce apparently just wanted Barney out of his car.

Corey Feldman

Reality star Corey Feldman had been in hundreds of commercials by age 3 and gave eye-catching performances in the movies Stand By Me and The Lost Boys, at age 15. But Feldman's growing struggle with addiction brought him into the media spotlight on the night of March 9, 1990, when L.A. police arrested him for possession after stopping his car and finding 23 balloons filled with heroin in his automobile (nine grams of heroin and cocaine in all).

Gary Coleman

The late Gary "what'chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?" Coleman, who played Arnold Jackson on the TV sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, has had a number of run-ins with the law since his show-business career went into decline.
Most recently, Coleman was arrested January 24, 2010 on a domestic violence warrant in Santaquin, Utah. He made bail the next day; a trial date has not been set.
Coleman had been cited for disorderly conduct in 2007 and again in 2009 for disorderly conduct after heated, public disputes with his wife. In 2008, Coleman was cited for disorderly conduct and reckless driving after an automobile accident following an argument with a fan who snapped Coleman's photo without his consent.
Coleman had also previously been arrested in 1998 for punching a fan after signing an autograph for her and arguing with her. Coleman was arrested and later pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace, receiving a suspended sentence. He was ordered to pay the fan $1,665 for hospital bills resulting from the fight and to complete 52 anger management sessions by the following year.

Todd Bridges

Todd Bridges who played Arnold's older brother Willis Jackson also on the television series Diff'rent Strokes, struggled with a serious cocaine addiction and consequently racked up a lengthy rap sheet before turning his life around, including: threatening to blow up an auto detailing business, reckless driving, allegedly shooting and stabbing a dealer in a crackhouse (for which he was acquitted with the help of attorney Johnny Cochran). He was also arrested for stabbing a tenant, possession of crystal meth and convicted of carrying a loaded gun. His last arrest was for ramming a friend's car after a heated game of Mortal Kombat.

Dana Plato

The late Dana Plato who started out quite successfully as Kimberly Drummond on Diff'rent Strokes was asked to leave the show in 1984 after producers decided that her off-screen pregnancy didn't fit the shows clean-cut image. Her career went into a decline and never really recovered. By 1991, she was working at a dry cleaners in Las Vegas, where she entered a local video store, produced a pellet gun, and demanded all the money from the register. She got $164, and then in fairly short order, she was arrested. Plato was sentenced to 5 years probation. In January 1992 she was photographed by police forging a prescription for Valium, and got 30 days in jail for parole violation.

Edward Furlong

Edward Furlong, who starred in the blockbuster film Terminator II at the age of 14, was arrested in September 2004, at the age of 27, for public intoxication following an incident at a Kentucky grocery store. According to the Florence Police Department, Furlong and some of his buddies were in a Meijer store behaving disruptively and removing lobsters from the chain store's tank. Furlong, who had also had problems with substance abuse over the years, reportedly smelled of booze, and began to "turn around in circles" when an officer tried to frisk him, according to police. It remains unclear whether Furlong, an animal rights activist, was in fact attempting to free the incarcerated crustaceans. In any event, none of the lobsters were able to make good their escape and the actor spent only a few hours in custody before making bail on the misdemeanor count.

Leif Garrett

Seventies teen idol Leif Garrett was arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. in January 2006 and charged with possession of heroin. Garrett, 44, was held without bail after deputies discovered an outstanding warrant for his arrest for allegedly violating his probation for a guilty plea in March 2005 to cocaine possession.

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan who rose to stardom for her performances in Freaky Friday, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Mean Girls was arrested in Santa Monica in July of 2007, for drunk driving and cocaine possession. The actress, who was 21 at the time, was arrested after police spotted her SUV apparently chasing another vehicle at high speed. After Lohan failed a field sobriety test, she was transported to the L.A. county lockup, where a search turned up cocaine in her pants pocket. She said they weren't her pants.
She was arrested again in November 2007, after surrendering to serve a brief jail term in connection with the drunk driving conviction received in July. She spent an hour in an L.A. jail before being released.

Macaulay Culkin

Macaulay Culkin was launched to stardom at the age of 10 for his role in the movie Home Alone. He was arrested in 2004 in Oklahoma, at the age of 24, for possession of marijuana and two controlled substances (Xanax and sleeping pills) for which he did not have a prescription. He was briefly jailed before being released on a $4,000 bond.

Christian Slater

Christian Slater, a promising actor who got his start in the movie Heathers is no stranger to law enforcement. In 1989 he led sheriff's deputies on a wild car chase through West Hollywood that ended with Slater hitting a phone pole and kicking a police officer before trying to escape over a fence. He was charged with evading police, driving under the influence, assault with a deadly weapon (his cowboy boots), and driving with a suspended license.
Slater was again arrested at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on December 23, 1994 and charged with criminal possession of a weapon (the actor had packed a handgun). He reached a plea agreement in early-1995 that required him to spend three days working with homeless children. But then in 1997 he was charged with three counts of assault and one count of battery after he assaulted a girlfriend while intoxicated. This time he served 59 days of a three-month sentence.
And finally on May 31, 2005 he was arrested for groping a woman on a New York street, while intoxicated.

Mackenzie Phillips

Starred on TV's sitcom One Day at a Time as Bonnie Franklin's rebellious elder daughter Julie. In 1980 she was fired for her erratic behavior resulting from substance abuse problems. In and out of rehab, Phillips has struggled with addiction ever since as well as with her career. Most recently she was arrested on August 27, 2008, by Los Angeles airport police, on charges of possession of cocaine and heroin, after the narcotics were discovered during a screening by federal security staff.

Source : http://www.trutv.com