Over the weekend, a 19-year-old spring breaker is said to have attacked Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen outside his Florida hotel. Allen got a head injury.
Max Edward Hartley, an Ohio resident on vacation in Fort Lauderdale, was hiding behind a pillar before he ran full speed toward the 59-year-old drummer, according to a Fort Lauderdale police report cited by the Daily Mail. Allen only has one arm because of a car accident on New Year’s Eve in 1984.
Allen was smoking a cigarette near the valet area of the Four Seasons Hotel when he took the hit. The police report said that he was thrown to the ground and hurt himself when his head hit the cement.
A woman ran out of the hotel to help the musician, but Hartley is said to have turned on her and attacked her as she tried to get back inside. The police say that Hartley “kept hitting her” while she was on the ground. The report said that he then grabbed her by the hair and dragged her from the lobby to the street before leaving the area.
Hartley is said to have been watching the musician before hitting him. The 19-year-old was caught soon after the attack near the Conrad hotel, where he had damaged several cars in the parking garage. Allen gave a statement to the police and asked that he be charged.
Hartley was charged with two counts of battery, four counts of criminal mischief, and one count of abusing an elderly or disabled adult.
Allen was staying near Fort Lauderdale so he could perform on Sunday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood. The World Tour 2023, which started last month and will end in August, is being done by Def Leppard and Motley Crüe.
This story was first told in the Los Angeles Times.
