‘PUNK’ BUSTED IN CHOKE – CONFIDENTIAL:
PUNK ROCK LEGEND Richard (Handsome Dick) Manitoba has been arrested for assaulting his former domestic partner. According to police records, Manitoba (photo), the 64-year-old front man for seminal rockers the Dictators, was charged last week with choking his 51-year-old ex-girlfriend Zoe
Hansen with whom he shares access to a large East Village apartment.
He faces three counts of third-degree assault and one count each of criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation and second-degree harassment.
According to the police report, Hansen was “crying, with tears streaming down her face and her body shaking,” when officers arrived. She told the cops: “He bit me. He bit my nose. He grabbed my neck and applied pressure.”
Manitoba and Hansen have a teenage son from their 16-year relationship. However, according to the alleged victim’s Facebook page, they have not been romantically involved for the past eight years. The arrest, which we’re told involved more than a dozen officers, happened at the couple’s apartment on Sixth St. and First Ave., a short walk from Manitoba’s bar on Avenue B. The pair co-owns the bar. Manitoba was arraigned Friday and is due back in Manhattan Criminal court on March 26. On Tuesday, Hansen posted — then soon after deleted — a Facebook message briefly detailing the alleged assault and assured friends that she’d fled their apartment. We’re told that she’s been staying with friends in the area.
The Dictators formed in 1973 and were part of the CBGB punk scene that produced bands including the Ramones, the Talking Heads and Blondie. Manitoba hosted a long-running radio show on SiriusXM’s Underground Garage station, which is run by E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt, who is also an investor in Manitoba’s bar. The show went on hiatus three weeks ago.
Hansen said: “I will know Richard for the rest of my life because we have a child together and it makes me very sad he’s turned into this kind of person. I never thought he’d hurt me this way.”
Manitoba declined to comment.