Pills in Briefcase Lead to Arrest of Actor Jan-Michael Vincent

Actor Jan-Michael Vincent was arrested on suspicion of illegal drug possession after a routine traffic stop in Agoura Hills, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday.

Deputies said 15 amphetamine tablets were found in Vincent’s briefcase when the Mercedes-Benz in which he was a passenger was stopped at 8 p.m. Wednesday on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

The car was stopped for having expired license plates and tinted windows, Sgt. Kevin Mauch said. Vincent, 42, of Malibu, was traveling with his wife, Joanne, in the borrowed Mercedes.

As deputies approached, Mauch said, they saw the amphetamines in an open briefcase, which they learned was the actor’s. Amphetamine tablets, used in treating depression and other illnesses, require a doctor’s prescription.

Vincent was released from the sheriff’s Malibu station jail on $1,000 bail about two hours after his arrest, deputies said. Neither Vincent nor his attorney could be reached for comment Thursday.

For Vincent, who starred in the TV series “Airwolf” and such films as “Hooper” and “Baby Blue Marine,” the arrest is the latest in a series of legal problems that began in 1983 when he was placed on probation after pleading guilty to drunk driving.

In May, 1985, he was acquitted of charges stemming from a barroom brawl. Two months later he pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace after a man said he went into “a fit of rage” at a Malibu party.

The following year, Vincent was sentenced to 30 days in jail for violating terms of probation for the drunk-driving conviction when he admitted driving a car within six hours of consuming liquor. Vincent avoided the sentence by attending an alcoholism treatment program.

In October, 1986, a Santa Monica jury found Vincent innocent of felony battery after a woman accused him of punching her, breaking her nose and splitting her lip.