MIAMI — Def Leppard’s beloved drummer Rick Allen was attacked outside his hotel while visiting South Florida earlier this week, according to reports.
Max Hartley is facing a charge of abuse to an elderly or disabled adult without great harm. The 19-year-old Ohio man was arrested Monday and has since bonded out of jail, records show.
Fort Lauderdale police did not identify the victim, but WSVN-TV first reported Allen was the man attacked. His condition is unknown. Allen, 59, was in town performing with Mötley Crüe at the Seminole Hard Rock on Sunday.
On Monday, Allen was smoking a cigarette in the valet section of the Four Seasons Hotel, 525 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., while Hartley was hiding behind a pole, an arrest report read.
Hartley rushed Allen, who has one arm, at full speed knocking him backward, causing his head to hit the ground. An unidentified woman came to help but Hartley knocked her to the ground, too.
He proceeded to hit the woman, but she managed to run into the hotel to try to escape. Hartley came after her and dragged the woman by the hair back out of the lobby.
“Apparently ... some guy assaulted her and was actually beating her up in front of our building,” a security guard at the hotel told 911 dispatchers.
Hartley ran away but was stopped nearby after police were alerted by Conrad hotel staff about damages to numerous cars, the report read.
Several 911 callers depicted a hectic scene when bystanders apprehended Hartley. One caller told dispatch that Hartley was trying to break a business’ window by throwing chairs.
“Send police right now ... I’m sitting on a f---ing suspect,” a caller said as the alleged suspect could be heard in background asking to have his captors get off his arm. “He tried to break into my restaurant.”
Another caller noted that Hartley seemed “very highly intoxicated.”
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