Four arrested in connection with drugs at actor Hoffman's home: report

[February 05, 2014]  By Dan Whitcomb

(Reuters) — Four people were arrested on Tuesday in connection with drugs found at the home of film star Philip Seymour Hoffman following his death of an apparent heroin overdose, the New York Daily News reported, citing unidentified police sources.

The arrests came during a raid on a building in the Chinatown district of Manhattan after police traced the heroin believed to have killed the Oscar-winning actor there, the newspaper reported.

A New York City Police Department spokesman told Reuters that officers found narcotics at the building in Chinatown and four people were arrested. He declined to confirm that the arrests were related to Hoffman's death.

A second police spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday evening that heroin found in Hoffman's apartment following his death was not cut or mixed with fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic believed by health authorities to be responsible for scores of overdose deaths in recent months.

"There was no fentanyl found in the drugs," the spokesman said.

The 46-year-old actor was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of his Manhattan apartment on Sunday by police responding to an emergency 911 call.

Police found Hoffman with a syringe in his arm and recovered plastic bags containing a substance believed to be heroin. Law enforcement sources have told Reuters that he died of an apparent drug overdose.

Preliminary results of an autopsy were expected to be released on Wednesday.

Hoffman, who is survived by his partner, Mimi O'Donnell, and their three children, had detailed his struggles with substance abuse in the past.

The actor, who earned an Academy Award for his portrayal of Truman Capote in the 2006 drama "Capote" and was considered one of the most gifted film stars of his generation, had sought treatment last year after more than 20 years of sobriety.

A representative for Hoffman said the actor, who also appeared in such blockbusters as "Twister" and "The Hunger Games," would be buried in a private memorial service, with a memorial planned for later this month.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; editing by Eric Walsh and Lisa Shumaker)

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