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The actor and playwright Sam Shepard has been arrested on preliminary charges of driving drunk and speeding, police reported in Illinois.


Police Lt. Mark Kotte said the officers arrested Shepard on Saturday morning in the town of Normal, located in central Illinois.


Kotte said Shepard, 65, was driving 16 miles per hour (25 kph) above the permitted limit, which is 30 mph (50 kph).

The source said that evidence indicated that the level of blood alcohol Shepard was twice the legal limit.


Shepard told police he was in a tavern in the nearby town of Bloomington and went to a hotel. He added that he was in transit to their home in Kentucky, from Minnesota.

The actor won the Pullitzer 1979, the best drama for his play "Buried Child."


Shepard paid a deposit in Bloomington. A person who answered the phone said the prison ignored the amount of bail.