Gibson is accused of anti-Semitic rant after failing drink-drive test

Los Angeles police and prosecutors are examining allegations that the actor-director Mel Gibson made abusive anti-Semitic remarks when he was arrested on drink-driving charges near his beach-side home in Malibu in the early hours of Friday morning.

According to a published reproduction of the arresting officer's handwritten report, Gibson, 50,became "belligerent" after failing a blood-alcohol test and blurted out "a barrage of anti-Semitic remarks".

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said yesterday it was not able to confirm or deny the authenticity of the report, four pages of which appeared on a celebrity website over the weekend, because it was subject to an internal investigation and was also being scrutinised by the district attorney's office.

Spokesman Steve Whitmore did confirm the identity of the arresting officer, James Mee. Saturday's Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, cited "a source close to the investigation" as confirming that the published pages were authentic.

In Mr Mee's published account, Gibson yelled: "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world" and turned around to ask the officer, "Are you a Jew?" Gibson issued a statement blaming the incident on a "horrific relapse" into the alcoholism that has plagued his adult life.

"I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable," he said.

The posted pages said Gibson became angry when he realised how much trouble he was in, and how much publicity his arrest was likely to generate. It said the star claimed he "owned Malibu" and told Officer Mee: "I'm going to fuck you. You're going to regret you ever did this to me."

Gibson angered some Jewish groups with his biblical interpretations in the hit film The Passion of the Christ.

He had 50 per cent more than the legal limit of alcohol in his blood and was driving at almost twice the maximum speed limit at 2.30am. Officer Mee's report said there was a bottle of tequila in the actor's car.