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03.22.2004 5:08 PM EST |
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Battery Charges Against Rush Guitarist Diminished — But He's Not Off The Hook
Alex Lifeson still faces fine and/or jail time. by Jon Wiederhorn |
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Alex Lifeson (file) (Photo: Naples Florida Police) |
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Posted on 03/22/2004 9:33:26 PM PST by NYC GOP Chick
A circuit court in Collier County, Florida, has charged Alex Lifeson (a.k.a. Alex Zivojinovich), the guitarist for Canadian power trio Rush, with two third-degree felony counts of battery against a law-enforcement officer.
The charges stem from a New Year's Eve incident in which Lifeson became enraged after security personnel at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel restaurant in Naples, Florida, prevented Lifeson's son Justin from joining the house band onstage to sing to his wife. Police became involved and Lifeson allegedly elbowed one in the face, pushed a female officer down a staircase, and ripped an officer's radio from his uniform (see "Rush Guitarist Considers Suit Alleging Police Brutality").
The third-degree battery charges were knocked down from two first-degree charges of aggravated battery against a law-enforcement officer. Four additional charges against Lifeson were dropped: resisting/obstructing an officer with violence, resisting/obstructing an officer without violence, disorderly intoxication and depriving an officer of the protection of a communication device.
The rocker will appear before a judge of the 20th Judicial Circuit Court in Naples on May 17. If convicted, Lifeson could face a fine of $500 or more and/or jail time. In the New Year's Eve fight, cops allegedly broke Lifeson's nose and zapped him four times with a stun gun to restrain him. The guitarist spent two nights in jail before he was released.
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03.22.2004 5:08 PM EST |
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Battery Charges Against Rush Guitarist Diminished — But He's Not Off The Hook
Alex Lifeson still faces fine and/or jail time. by Jon Wiederhorn |
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Alex Lifeson (file) (Photo: Naples Florida Police) |
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Rush Guitarist Charged in Hotel Fight
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Mon Mar 22, 8:44 PM ET
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NAPLES, Fla. - The lead guitarist for the rock band Rush was charged Monday with two counts of battery, more than three months after a New Year's Eve scuffle with sheriff's deputies at a Naples hotel.
Deputies said the fight started when the guitarist's son refused to get off the stage at The Ritz-Carlton, where the house band was performing.
Alex Zivojinovich, whose stage name is Alex Lifeson, tried to intervene when deputies escorted his son off the property, deputies said. They accused Rush's founding member of pushing a female deputy down a stairwell and spitting in another deputy's face.
Justin Zivojinovich, 33, was charged with one count of resisting with violence, and Alex Zivojinovich's wife was later charged with resisting arrest.
After his arrest that night, Alex Zivojinovich, 50, left jail with a bloodstained shirt and told reporters his nose was broken in the altercation. The two charges he faces are each punishable by up to five years in prison if he is convicted.
Zivojinovich's attorney declined to comment Monday.
I'm lazy, what can I say? ;)
Don't make me cite the Geneva Convention!
They could form a giant posse of fans of pretentious, falsetto-voiced, goofy art bands and free all people imprisoned in spite of their connections to Rush, Yes, Air Supply, and Asia.
They would be free once more, until some actual rock and rollers found them, mocked them, and kicked their fairy asses.
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