FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The drummer of legendary rock group Def Leppard was assaulted outside the hotel he was staying at after a show in South Florida.
Rick Allen, who sadly lost his arm in a car accident back in 1984, was outside the Four Seasons in the valet area for a smoke. That’s when a very strange and scary encounter happened.
Allen was in South Florida to perform a show at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino over the weekend.
The show, this past Sunday, had Def Leppard co-headlining with Mötley Crüe.
Allen, 59, was staying at the Four Seasons on Fort Lauderdale Beach.
According to a police report, he was violently attacked by Max Edward Hartley, 19, who was visiting from Ohio.
Hartley bailed out of the Broward County Jail on Tuesday. He was met by a 7News photographer who questioned why he would knock over a man with one arm and whether he knew that the man was Def Leppard’s drummer.
“Max, are you a Def Leppard fan?” he asked.
Hartley turned away without comment.
Fort Lauderdale Police said Hartley was hiding behind a pillar outside the hotel while Allen was smoking his cigarette when Hartley, according to the report, ran at full speed at Allen, knocking him to the ground.
The report states Allen “hit his head on the ground causing injury.”
The report then says a woman ran out of the hotel to help Allen, and Hartley, police said, then attacked her.
According to the report, “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 defendant then grabs [her] by her hair and drags her out of the lobby and back onto the sidewalk before fleeing the area.”
Hartley was arrested after he was found at a nearby hotel breaking car windows.
The suspect said nothing to 7News cameras besides, “Stop,” as he held his arms up to shield his face, showing visible injuries on his elbows.
He has been charged with two counts of battery, four counts of criminal mischief, and abusing an elderly or disabled adult.
Allen provided a sworn statement to the police and told them that he indeed wants to prosecute.
7News has reached out to Allen’s media team to see whether he would be available for comment, but as of Wednesday evening, there has been no response.
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