Actor Identifies Son’s Drug Dealer Suspect Arrested Shortly After O’Connor’s Son Commits Suicide

Hours after the suicide of Carroll O’Connor’s drug-addicted son, police on Wednesday arrested a man the actor identified as his son’s dealer.

Harry Thomas Perzigian, 39, of Los Angeles, was booked for investigation of cocaine possession, said officer Rigo Romero.

Shortly after 32-year-old Hugh Edward O’Connor had killed himself with a gunshot to the head Tuesday, the actor tearfully told reporters Perzigian was the drug supplier for his only child.

“These dealers, they kill people,” O’Connor said outside his son’s home in Pacific Palisades, Calif. “They make a living giving people the means to kill themselves. Harry, I want to see you someday.”

The 71-year-old actor, best known for playing Archie Bunker in “All in the Family,” had called police earlier Tuesday, saying his son was despondent and had access to guns.

A crisis negotiator and special weapons team were dispatched to the son’s home, but the younger O’Connor told them to go away and then shot himself. Police said they found a suicide note.

The younger O’Connor had a 16-year history of drug abuse and had enrolled in three drug rehabilitation programs over the years, but he “could not face going into another one for perhaps six months or a year,” his father said.

O’Connor currently stars as the sheriff in the CBS series “In the Heat of the Night.” His son played a lieutenant on the show.

The younger O’Connor, who was adopted, was born in Rome, Italy. After graduating from Beverly Hills Preparatory School, O’Connor worked as a courier on his father’s CBS series “Archie Bunker’s Place” in its final season in 1982-1983.

He later moved to New York and worked as an assistant stage manager on Broadway before getting parts in television.