Def Leppard Drummer Assaulted By Teen In Ft. Lauderdale
In one respect, it’s a crazy sign that your status has changed. There was a time when no doubt you could have read this headline: “Def Leppard Drummer Mobbed By Teenagers.” Now, you can change “Mobbed” to “Assaulted.” I imagine on paper having a Motley Crue/Def Leppard show during spring break at Ft. Lauderdale seemed like a great idea. However, in retrospect…
According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Def Leppard Drummer, Rick Allen was standing outside The Four Seasons Hotel on Ft. Lauderdale Beach having a smoke when 19-year-old Max Hartley of Ohio flat-out attacked him. Hartley was hiding behind a pole. To him, the prey was just a one-armed, old man, burning a heater (Allen famously lost his left arm in a car accident in the 1980s). Hartley knocked Allen to the ground causing head trauma. A woman nearby then tried to intervene, only to be assaulted herself for her trouble.
Hartley then fled, but was later arrested by police in a nearby hotel parking garage. He has been charged with abuse of an elderly or disabled adult. No word on if Allen’s injuries will impede his performing in the near future. However, if I’m betting? Any drummer who overcomes arm amputation to continue his career, isn’t likely to let cuts and bruises to his dome stope him.
https://youtu.be/pfYJkqVwFWc