Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Rush Guitarist Sues Hotel

According to Yahoo!, Rush's guitarist is suing a hotel:

Two months after cutting a plea deal with Naples, Florida, prosecutors that spared him jail time for his part in a 2003 hotel brawl, the musician has filed a lawsuit against the local Ritz-Carlton, its security director and three sheriff's deputies.

The 33-count federal suit, filed last Thursday in U.S. District Court in Fort Meyers on behalf of Lifeson (real name Alex Zivojinovich), son Justin Zivojinovich and daughter-in-law Michelle Zivojinovich, accused the defendants of violating the family's civil rights by using excessive force during a New Year's Eve bash that led to their arrest.

The fracas started when Justin Zivojinovich got up on stage during the house band's set break to serenade his wife. Security guards in turn tried to hustle him off the stage. At that point, Lifeson rushed to his son's defense and, per the incident report, pushed a sheriff's deputy down a hotel stairwell. Officers eventually used a stun gun to subdue him.

But according to court documents obtained by the Naples Daily News, Lifeson discounts the law enforcement version of events. His lawsuit claims the three Collier County deputies who responded to the scene applied "illegal and unjustified force" that was "excessive" and caused Justin "severe discomfort and pain."

....While witness accounts have differed on how events went down, at least one former Ritz employee seems to back the Lifeson clan's claims. "It was extreme police brutality," the staffer told the Daily News. "The whole time all this was going down, I'm thinking, 'God, what did these people do? It must have been something really bad.' It just bothered me."
--------
I've always thougth it must stink being that guy because Rush is just about the only band where the bassist and the drummer are more famous than the guitarist. If Geddy Lee's son wanted to serenade his wife, you better believe the Ritz would let him.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What about Can?