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A 19-year-old tourist was arrested and charged with battery, criminal mischief, and abusing an elderly or disabled person for the attack
Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen was attacked by a 19-year-old man outside of his hotel in Florida over the weekend, according to a Fort Lauderdale Police report posted by Daily Mail.
Max Edward Hartley — an Ohio resident visiting the Fort Lauderdale area — was arrested and charged with two counts of battery, four counts of criminal mischief, and a count of abusing an elderly or disabled adult after lunging at the musician “at a full run” while outside of the Four Seasons hotel.
The seemingly unprompted attack caused the 59-year-old drummer — who lives with one arm due to a 1984 car accident — to “hit his head on the ground causing injury,” per the report, viewed by Rolling Stone. Hartley was allegedly watching the musician from “behind a pole” before the attack.
After striking Allen, Hartley allegedly hit another woman who had come out to help the musician. “While she is on the ground, the defendant continues to batter her by striking her. [She] attempts to escape by running into the hotel,” the report read. “The defendant then grabs [her] by her hair and drags her out of the lobby and back onto the sidewalk before fleeing the area.”
The incident occurred while Allen and the band were staying in the Fort Lauderdale area for their co-headlining show with Mötley Crüe in the city on March 12.
A rep for the band declined to comment, and the FLPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Broward County Sheriff’s Department confirmed Hartley’s arrest.
According to WSVN-TV in Fort Lauderdale, Allen provided a sworn statement to the police and told them that he wants to prosecute.
