LOS ANGELES: Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone was released from jail recently after his arrest on alcohol and drug charges the night before in Beverly Hills, police said. Police at a checkpoint, set up for the Memorial Day weekend, pulled over Stone when he showed signs of intoxication, said police. When police searched Stone’s Mercedes, they found an illegal drug. They declined to identify it.

Stone, 58, was arrested about 11:45 p.m. Friday on a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated. In 1999 the filmmaker was arrested on alcohol and drug charges and, as part of a plea bargain, agreed to enter a rehabilitation programme. A Vietnam veteran, Stone received Best Directing Oscars for ‘Platoon’ (1986), which also won an Oscar for Best Picture, and for ‘Born on the Fourth of July’ (1989). — HNS