"When the police approached, she asked them, 'You know who I am, right?' " one source told The Post.
"Then she said, 'I'm researching a part – I'm doing this for a part' " as a junkie.
The source said detectives found a pipe on O'Neal, daughter of actor Ryan O'Neal. The pipe and screen were clean.
"Then she said she'd been clean for two years, and that she'd just came out today," the source said.
"Can't we just forget about this?" the sources said she begged detectives.
The suspected drug dealer, Alan Garcia, 33, also was arrested, the sources said. Both were hauled into the Seventh Precinct station house and were expected to spend the night in custody.
She was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance; he was hit with a rap of criminal sale of a controlled substance.