Nicolas Cage May Now Face Child Abuse Investigation

April 27, 2011— -- Actor Nicolas Cage may now face a child-abuse investigation as new details from his April 16 arrest for public drunkenness in New Orleans have emerged from a police department's report. According to People Magazine, Cage's son, 5-year-old Kal-El, fell and scraped his knee in the midst of the chaos and a child-abuse detective was called to the scene.

According to the account based on the police report, Cage was retrieving Kal-El from a car during an argument with his wife, "and at some point, Mr. Cage fell while holding their son. The fall caused the five (5) year old child to suffer a minor abrasion [on] his left knee, and she then recovered the child."

Child Protective Services did not immediately return a call seeking comment, according to People.

Following his arrest in New Orleans for domestic abuse, disturbing the peace and public drunkenness, a longtime friend of Cage told the Chicago Sun-Times, "Many of us are worried that his drinking again is a big problem for him and those around him."

The friend said, "Nic has been under so much pressure lately, due to a variety of issues -- including his major financial problems."

His marriage to Alice Kim also appears to be troubled. "Alice is terrific, but I get the sense she's coming to the end of her rope," another friend told the paper, "and if Nic doesn't quickly straighten himself out, she's going to bail."

Cage's rep did not respond immediately to ABCNews.com's requests for comment.

But according to TMZ, Cage showed up last week on the set of "Medallion," the movie he is shooting in New Orleans, ready to work.

Though his arrest does not appear to have affected his production schedule, Scott Basinger, an expert on addiction and recovery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said it should be a wake-up call for Cage.

"If you've been arrested for public drunkenness, charged with domestic abuse and continue to have financial issues, one of the things you might want to look at is how much alcohol and drugs are playing a part in that," Basinger told ABCNews.com.

"My first thought is he should probably have a full-blown assessment," he said. "And secondly, he would be a wonderful candidate for a treatment center."

But will he go?

Cage, who has been candid about his drug and alcohol use in his 20s, reportedly rejects rehab and 12-step programs as things other people do.

Last year, while promoting "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," Cage talked about how he and his cat, Louis, did psychedelic mushrooms together, Cage told David Letterman that after a daylong staring contest with the cat he "had no doubt that he was my brother."

He did add, "I don't do any of that stuff anymore."

But since that interview, Cage has had a series of alcohol-related incidents.

Before his recent arrest in New Orleans, Cage was escorted home in March, following an apparently intoxicated verbal brawl with patrons in a New Orleans bar during Mardi Gras.

In December, he got into a similar altercation with patrons at a nightclub in Romania, where he was filming "Ghost Rider 2."

A Romanian TV station captured Cage losing his cool as he ranted to a man and woman, "Get off me! Get off me! Don't touch me!"

Basinger said Cage is exhibiting some of the hallmark behaviors of someone with a substance abuse problem, including continuing to drink despite the consequences. He said that Cage's angry outbursts were another red flag.

"Men use anger to cover fear," Basinger said. "To go from Academy Award winner [for "Leaving Las Vegas"] straight to DVD movies, I'm sure that's a big comedown for him. And if I owed the IRS $14 million, I would be restless, irritable and discontent too."

Basinger said it's certainly plausible that Cage was able to stop drinking and using drugs on his own before. But he hopes someone close to him will encourage him to try rehab this time.

"My hope is somebody in Nic's life, someone who cares about him, will step up instead of watching this trainwreck get worse and worse," Basinger said.