Famed Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen was brutally attacked by a young man outside his Florida hotel.
The 59-year-old British rocker was quietly smoking in the valet service at the Four Seasons in Fort Lauderdale when his attacker allegedly rushed at him at “full throttle” and punched him.
Rick Allen then lost his footing and hit his head on the ground, according to the People police report.
The suspect, 19-year-old Max Hartley, is also said to have assaulted a woman who came to the musician’s aid. Hartley is said to have grabbed the Good Samaritan by the hair and dragged him out of the hotel lobby after trying to take refuge there.
Max Hartley, who is from Ohio, fled the scene of the attack. He was intercepted smashing the windows of a car in the parking lot of a nearby hotel.
The young suspect was charged with abusing a disabled person or an elder, assault and battery, and four counts of criminal mischief.
Rick Allen had his left arm amputated in a car accident in the early 1980s.
The rocker wants to prosecute his attacker, according to a statement available to the police.
The suspect was released on bail.
– According to information published in People