"Eight Is Enough" Star Pleads Innocent

Adam Rich is an innocent.

At least that was the oft-arrested former child TV star's plea, as entered by his lawyer, during arraignment Friday on a driving under the influence charge, stemming from an alleged drug-fueled bumpy ride on a Los Angeles-area freeway last December.

Rich's attorney also lodged a not guilty plea to a charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance for his celeb client, who was not present in the Pomona Superior Court.

Both charges are misdemeanors. A pretrial hearing is set for March 27.

Rich, 34, was a prime-time star from 1977-1981 as the mop-haired moppet Nicholas Bradford on Eight Is Enough. Though he hasn't worked in front of the camera in years, Rich noted his occupation as actor when arrested by California Highway Patrol officers on December 18.

In the wee, small hours of that morning, authorities said the erstwhile tube titan drove his 2000 Chrysler Sebring onto a closed-off section of the Interstate 10 freeway in the L.A. suburb of Pomona, and nearly collided with a parked CHP patrol car.

Upon being pulled over, Rich told officers he was returning to his Brentwood home from a rave, and explained he was on anti-depressant medication, the CHP said.

Rich submitted to a chemical test, and, per the charges filed against him last week, the ex-TV tyke was found to be on cocaine, marijuana, amphetamines, opiates and mild tranquilizers, Los Angeles' City News Service said.

Rich's attorney Steve Sitkoff said Monday he needed time to review the case before commenting. Of Rich, Sitkoff said, "He's doing real well right now."

Upon being released from custody last December, Rich spoke for himself, telling reporters that he was found to be sober by officers who gave him a roadside test. He said his troubles began after police sent him on his way. "As I was getting onto the onramp, there was a road block thing and I hit it accidentally or I just swerved to miss it," Rich said, according to CNS.

Rich said he was pulled over again, and arrested, "even though the other cop said I wasn't drunk."

Rich was a frequent police-blotter entry in the early 1990s, when his admitted drug troubles led him down the path of alleged sock stealing, burglary and drunken driving.

"I have a disease," Rich told a court in 1991.

The former child star righted himself, and reportedly found work as an assistant director.