Def Leppard rocker Rick Allen has spoken out for the first time after he was attacked outside his hotel in Fort Lauderdale while on tour with Motley Crue.
The 59-year-old drummer has thanked everyone for their ‘overwhelming support’ and said he is ‘working on recovering in a safe space’ after he became the victim of an assault.
It took place while he was standing outside the Four Seasons Hotel in Fort Lauderdale on March 13 smoking a cigarette.
He had performed with Def Leppard at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and
Casino on March 12, which was the night before the attack.
A police report revealed the musician had suffered an injury when his head hit the floor.
In a statement to ABC, Allen said people’s ‘love and prayers are truly helping’ on the road to recovery.
‘My wife Lauren [Monroe] was thankfully not with me at the time of the incident. We are together now, and working on recovering in a safe space,’ he continued.
‘We ask you to join us in our effort to move from confusion and shock to compassion and empathy. We understand this act of violence can be triggering for so many people.’
He went on to say he is thinking of all the fans, veterans, and first responders around the world, adding ‘together with love, we can all get through these difficult times.’
The report stated Allen was hit by a man who lunged at him in a ‘full run’ and ‘knocked him backwards’.
A woman who came to help Allen – who lost his left arm in a car accident in 1984 – was also pushed to the ground and assaulted.
The report states the unnamed female attempted to escape by running back into the hotel but was grabbed by her hair and hauled back out into the street.
Officers of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department later arrested 19-year-old Max Edward Hartley of Ohio, who was visiting Florida for Spring Break.
Hartley was charged with two counts of battery, four counts of criminal mischief, and a count of abusing an elderly or disabled adult. He was later released on bail.
Allen cooperated with officers and gave a full sworn statement about the incident.
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