Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen says he was attacked outside hotel
Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen says he was blindsided during an attack on him outside a South Florida hotel following a concert earlier this year.
“I heard a couple of steps and then I just saw this (flash) and the next thing I knew was I was on the ground,” Allen, 59, told ABC’s “Good Morning America ” in an interview broadcast Monday. “I landed on my backside — hit my head on the pavement.”
Def Leppard was in Fort Lauderdale to perform at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino when he was attacked March 13 while taking a smoke break outside a hotel.
Police arrested Max Hartley, a 19year-old from Avon, Ohio, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of battery and four counts of criminal mischief, according to court records. Police said they haven’t determined a motive.
“I don’t think he knew who I was, but he must have seen that I wasn’t a threat because, you know, I’ve only got one arm,” said Allen, who lost his left arm in a car accident in 1984.
According to the police report, Hartley was hiding behind a pillar outside the hotel and then ran at Allen, knocking him to the ground. He also attacked a woman tried to help Allen, but she wasn’t seriously injured.
Hartley then ran to another hotel and started breaking car windows until he was stopped by witnesses and police arrived, police said.
Hartley’s lawyer, Kevin Gardiner, didn’t immediately reply to an email Monday seeking comment about the case.
Allen’s head struck the ground during the attack, and he and his wife, Lauren Monroe, told “Good Morning America” that they’ve been focusing on his recovery.