Hi!
long one, this is from local paper...
The lead guitarist for a renowned rock band faces criminal charges
after a scuffle with Collier County sheriff's deputies at The
Ritz-Carlton, Naples, on New Year's Eve.
Alex Zivojinovich, a founding member of Rush, known on stage as Alex
Lifeson, was arrested after what deputies describe as a drunken,
violent outbreak at the posh hotel.
Zivojinovich, 50, faces six charges that include aggravated battery on
a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, and
disorderly intoxication. Also arrested in the brouhaha were his
33-year-old son Justin Zivojinovich and his wife, Michelle, 30.
Deputies say they had to use a stun gun on Alex Zivojinovich, 8787 Bay
Colony Drive, Apt. 804 in Naples, and his son during the fracas. And
in their reports they accuse Alex Zivojinovich of pushing a female
deputy down a hotel stairwell during the struggle, and of spitting
blood on a deputy's face.
But his son Justin, who was visiting his father on vacation from
Canada, gave a very different account of what happened during an
interview Thursday night.
He said his father, who was still in the Collier County jail as of
late Thursday, had his nose broken by deputies, and as he was spitting
out the blood from the injuries, deputies assaulted him again. He also
said his father did not push the female deputy down the stairs as
stated in arrest reports.
Instead, Justin Zivojinovich said, the deputy tumbled down the stairs
as she pushed him down the stairwell.
He said the trouble began after he got up on the stage where the house
band was performing at the hotel.
"I was singing Happy New Year's, that's all I was doing, singing to
the whole crowd. That's all I said, 'Happy New Year,'" Justin
Zivojinovich said. "Everyone was enjoying themselves. That's when
someone apparently started yelling for one of the security guards.
There was no violence on our part.
"I was ready to leave. I was asked to leave, and I said, 'OK, I'm
going to go. I'll grab my wife and be out of there.' They didn't want
that. They didn't want me to leave on a high note. They felt they
would lose. They decided to aggravate me. They stunned me, as well as
my father, with a stun gun."
Justin Zivojinovich said they have hired Naples defense lawyer Jerry
Berry to represent them. Rush has scheduled a global 30th anniversary
tour in 2004, and Justin said he did not know whether this arrest
might affect those plans.
"If we don't get off of these charges, we're going to start seeking
lawsuits against a lot of people," Justin Zivojinovich said.
Arrest reports paint a picture of an intoxicated, unruly, and violent
father and son who refused to comply with deputies' orders. The
reports said that trouble began after Justin Zivojinovich got up on
the band's stage after being warned not to.
The reports state that the 33-year-old Zivojinovich became verbally
abusive after being asked to leave the stage. "When approached by
hotel Security Supervisor Frank Barner, he said "(Expletive) off, I'm
going to sing a song for my wife," according to the arrest report.
The reports said that is when his 50-year-old father came to the
defense of his son and became verbally abusive with Barner.
Barner then called sheriff's deputies, and stated that he wanted both
men removed from the property and issued trespass warnings.
Collier Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Knott's said in his report that
he told Justin Zivojinovich he would be escorting him to the property
line and issuing him a trespass warning prohibiting him from returning
to Ritz-Carlton property.
"Justin stated that was fine. When Justin and I walked back into the
ballroom to retrieve his property, he threw his hat and started
screaming obscenities," Knott's report states. "A second male
identified as Justin's father, Alex Zivojinovich, approached us and
stated that his son wasn't going anywhere."
Knott alleges that he told Alex Zivojinovich that if he didn't move
away from them, that he would be arrested for obstruction of justice.
"Alex stated, "Take me to jail, I don't care, it's (expletive) New
Year's Eve,'" Knott's report states.
Knott contends that Alex Zivojinovich then put his hands on his son's
chest and began pushing him in the opposite direction of the way the
deputy was escorting him.
"Justin began to struggle and resist. I placed Justin in an arm bar
and began escorting him away with the assistance of Cpl. Amy Stanford
to avoid any further disturbance. Cpl. Scott Russell was trying to
keep Alex and several other members in their party away from us, with
little success. As I looked over my right shoulder, I could see Cpl.
Russell struggling with several people to include Alex and Justin's
wife, Michelle."
Knott's report states that as deputies entered the service stairwell,
Justin Zivojinovich began to struggle and swing his right elbow at
Stanford's face.
He states that as he escorted Justin Zivojinovich to the ground he
felt Alex Zivojinovich pushing into him.
"As the situation began to escalate with several people filling the
stairwell, I removed my Taser (stun gun) and warned Alex to keep away.
I turned to assist in handcuffing Justin and he began to thrash his
body. I warned deputies of my intention to tase the wildly combative
Justin."
Knott's report states that after the stun gun was then used on Justin,
Alex was screaming obscenities and being extremely violent. Knott says
Alex Zivojinovich ripped the police radio off of his uniform,
"depriving me of calling for backup units."
Knott states that when Corporal Stanford attempted to pull Alex
Zivojinovich away from him, the rock star — who arrest reports say
stands 6 feet tall and weighs 230 pounds — grabbed her and shoved her
down the steps, forcing her to fall on her back. Knott said that
Stanford suffered injuries that required medical attention.
Alex Zivojinovich won Best Rock Talent in 1983 in the category "Guitar
for the Practicing Musician." He was inducted into the Guitar for the
Practicing Musician Hall of Fame in May of 1991. His Yugoslavian
parents immigrated to Canada. His only formal training was during
Rush's early days on the Toronto club circuit.
The Rolling Stone magazine Web site said Rush "carved itself a place
in the prog-rock elite through three decades of popular releases."
"The band saw success throughout the '80s on the consistent release of
albums, a rigorous touring schedule and a dedicated fan base," the Web
site said.
Rush had a string of popular hits in the 1980s, such as the song "Tom
Sawyer," from The Moving Pictures album of 1981. Other hits included
"Limelight" and "Spirit of the Radio."
Nikki
