Def Leppard drummer attacked in Fort Lauderdale, reports say

Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen was assaulted Monday near the Four Seasons hotel on Fort Lauderdale beach, according to reports.

A 19-year-old man from Ohio was arrested Monday and has since bonded out of jail in the attack. Max Hartley, 19, faces a charge of abuse to an elderly or disabled adult, Fort Lauderdale Police said.

Fort Lauderdale Police did not identify Allen, 68, or a woman who was injured the same attack at 525 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd.

According to police, Hartley was hiding behind a pole watching the one-armed victim, who was smoking. Then Hartley ran at him and knocked him to the ground. The man hit his head on the ground. His condition is unknown.

A woman who saw the attack tried to intervene and was also knocked to the ground, where Hartley hit her, police said. She tried to run into the hotel, but he pulled her out of the lobby by her hair, police said.

Hartley then ran. He was arrested near the Conrad hotel after damaging several cars, police said.

Multiple 911 callers said the man, later identified as Hartley, broke or attempted to break windows at the Four Seasons Hotel and at the Wine Garden restaurant in the 600 block of Breakers Avenue, which is a quarter of a mile away from the hotel.

One caller said he was sitting on top of the man who tried to break the windows at his business by throwing chairs. A Wine Garden employee and his boss chased after him, the employee told the 911 operator. Another caller said the man was “very highly intoxicated” and someone was holding him down.

Allen, whose arm was amputated after an accident in the 1980s, was in South Florida for a show with Def Leppard and Motley Crue on Sunday at Hard Rock Live. He’s been with the hard rock band since 1978, and plays drums with the use of electronic pedals.