23 Nov 2011 - Actor Ryan O'Neal's oldest son, Griffin O'Neal, pleaded guilty Tuesday in San Diego County Superior Court to felony drug and weapons charges stemming from a head-on collision in the North County. O'Neal was on drugs when his car veered into oncoming traffic on San Pasqual Valley Road and collided head-on with a van on August 2. Xanax, cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines were found to be in his system at the time of his crash, prosecutors said. Responding officers found a loaded gun, a shotgun, ammunition and rock cocaine inside O’Neal’s car.

Griffin O'Neal was on probation for a 2007 DUI conviction at the time of the crash. Drug charges were dismissed as part of Tuesday's guilty plea the paper reported. During a pretrial hearing, O'Neal's attorney told the judge her client was on his way to help his just-arrested brother Redmond at the time of the accident.

O'Neal has a degenerative bone disease and uses a cane when he walks and sometimes uses a wheelchair, according to his attorney. She also said some of the medicine found in her client's system at the time of the crash are taken as treatment for his disease.
The crash involving Griffin O'Neal happened about five hours after Redmond O'Neal was arrested in Santa Monica with heroin in his car.

Griffin O'Neal's mother is the late actress Joanna Cook Moore. His sister is Tatum O'Neal.
Sentencing was set for Jan. 12. O'Neal could face a maximum four years in prison.