Kiefer Sutherland arrested

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Kiefer Sutherland, who stars on the hit TV thriller "24" as a secret agent with nerves of steel, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving on Tuesday, hours before he was due to be honoured by a Canadian actors' union.

The arrest comes three years after the Canadian performer, 40, the son of actor Donald Sutherland, pleaded no contest to a charge of driving under the influence and was ordered into a treatment program for alcohol abuse.

Los Angeles police said they stopped Sutherland's car shortly near the boundaries of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood after 1 a.m. after he was seen making an illegal U-turn.

A breath test found him to be over the legal blood-alcohol limit, and he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, a police spokeswoman said.

She said Sutherland was taken to the police station in Hollywood, where he posted $25,000 bail and was released. He is due to appear in court on October 16.

No further details were available, but the celebrity news Web site TMZ.com quoted an unnamed police source as describing Sutherland as "cooperative and mellow" while in custody.

The arrest came hours before Sutherland, who spent much of his boyhood in Toronto, was to be honoured by the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) at the residence of Canada's Consul General in Los Angeles.

An ACTRA spokeswoman said the awards ceremony would go on as planned but be closed to the media. A spokeswoman for the actor said he would attend, but she declined further comment.