FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen was attacked and injured Monday while smoking outside the Four Seasons Hotel in Fort Lauderdale Beach. A 19-year-old from Greater Cleveland has been arrested and charged in the attack.
Allen was smoking at the valet stand outside the hotel when a man charged the 59-year-old one-armed drummer “at full speed”. Allen fell and hit his “head on the ground causing injury,” Yahoo Entertainment reported, citing a police report obtained from Fort Lauderdale police.
While Allen was on the ground, a woman came out of the hotel to try to help. The man attacked her, knocked her down and dragged her by the hair, Yahoo reported.
Max Edward Hartley, 19, of Avon, Ohio, was arrested and charged with two counts of assault and battery, four counts of criminal mischief and abusing an elderly or disabled adult, Yahoo said, citing The report.
The Daily Mail reported that Hartley was in Florida on spring break playing football and lacrosse at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland.
Allen was in town as Def Leppard co-hosted a show with Mötley Crüe on Sunday. In 1984, he lost his left arm in a car accident.
The Daily Mail, citing a police report, said Allen provided a sworn statement to police and told them he wanted to press charges.