The lead singer of rock band Alien Ant Farm has been charged with battery after bizarrely pulling a male fan’s hand into his crotch throughout a live performance in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Dryden Mitchell, frontman for the one-time chart-topping group greatest identified for its 2001 remake of Michael Jackson’s ‘Easy Prison,’ was performing the hit cowl on the upscale Broward Middle for the Performing Arts on October 29 when he inexplicably clenched a fan’s outreached hand and positioned it on his groin.
In a YouTube video of the efficiency that’s now the important thing piece of proof in opposition to Mitchell, the fan could be seen rapidly yanking his hand from the lead singer’s grasp.
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Alien Ant Farm lead singer Dryden Mitchell has been charged with battery after he was seen pulling a fan’s hand as much as his crotch throughout a efficiency in Fort Lauderdale in October
The October 29 incident was captured in a video posted on YouTube that’s now the important thing piece of proof in opposition to Mitchell. The fan could be seen within the crowd elevating his hand within the air when Mitchell locations it on his groin. The person then rapidly yanks his hand from his grasp
The lightning-quick encounter went unnoticed on the present and moments later the band’s set concluded.
However slightly greater than two weeks later, on November 15, the fan, a 45-year-old Miami man, went to the Fort Lauderdale Police Division to complain that Mitchell had assaulted him.
Reached by telephone, the fan instructed DailyMail.com he had no thought what prompted Mitchell to do what he did and mentioned he was saving additional remark for a later time.
‘I do need to inform my story however I do need to hearken to my civil legal professionals,’ mentioned the person, whose identify was not made public in a police report of the incident obtained by DailyMail.com.
‘I will be very happy to talk later. I do need the story on the market as a result of what occurred was not proper.’
Components of his story are recounted within the police report, launched after the Broward State Legal professional’s Workplace filed a first-degree misdemeanor cost – punishable by as much as a yr in jail – in opposition to Mitchell on December 30.
‘[The fan] mentioned he had his fist within the air and was attempting to get an image with Mitchell,’ police wrote.
The Broward State Legal professional’s Workplace filed a first-degree misdemeanor cost – punishable by as much as a yr in jail – in opposition to Mitchell on December 30
A duplicate of the Fort Lauderdale Police incident report obtained by DailyMail.com doesn’t identify the sufferer beneath Marsy’s Regulation
Mitchell has but to be booked for the battery cost, which was filed in absentia
‘[He] suggested that Mitchell grabbed his fist whereas it was within the air and pulled the fist into his non-public space (genital space) in opposition to his pants. [He] acknowledged he instantly pulled his hand away at that time.’
The fan instructed police that he determined to report the crime properly after the actual fact as a result of it ‘was not sitting properly with him.’
‘[He] didn’t really feel this was correct habits to do in entrance of all of the concertgoers and in addition acknowledged there have been youngsters within the crowd as properly,’ police wrote. ‘[The fan] suggested he wished to report the incident to police.’
Makes an attempt to contact Mitchell, who lives in Riverside, California, by telephone and by way of his reserving company, New York-based TKO, have been unsuccessful.
An in depth message requesting remark was left with an company consultant and had gone unreturned.
This is not the primary incident involving the band and an alleged battery of a fan.
Whereas Alien Ant Farm was touring England in 2016, the foursome’s guitarist, Terry Corso, assaulted a fan at a present within the north west metropolis of. Chester after the fan threw liquid at him.
Corso mentioned he assumed the liquid was urine as a result of Mitchell had been doused with urine at a present in Preston simply two days earlier than.
The guitarist jumped into the gang and punched the fan. The liquid was not in reality urine and Corso was finally hit with fines and a 12-month conditional discharge – much like a yr’s probation within the U.S.
Mitchell, a married father of two, is a founding member of Alien Ant Farm, which was fashioned in Riverside in 1996.
In accordance with the report narrative, the person instructed police he was attempting to get an image with Mitchell when the singer puled his fist into his genital space
The rock band, consisting of Tim Peugh, Mike Cosgrove, Dryden Mitchell and Terry Corso, was fashioned in Riverside, California in 1996
The band’s first studio effort was named Finest Impartial Album on the LA Music Awards in 1999, however it was its second album, ANThology, that introduced main success.
The ‘Easy Prison’ observe went to No. 1 on the Fashionable Rock Tracks chart, No. 1 in Australia, and No. 3 within the UK.
The tune was featured within the movie American Pie 2 (in a memorable scene the place Jason Biggs’s character superglues his hand to his crotch) and has since racked up 267 million views on YouTube.
The tune unexpectedly went viral once more final summer season, prompting the LA Instances to publish a Q and A with Mitchell in June.
‘That was some large s**t when it was taking place,’ Mitchell instructed the Instances of his early stardom.
‘We have been simply rip-roaring world wide, flying in every single place and doing what we love. We have been so cocky. I did not have ideas of my 46-year-old [self] again then. I am a dad now!’
One other tune on the album, ‘Films,’ turned the second-most fashionable tune by the band, cracking the High 5 within the UK and has since reached 22 million YouTube views.
Whereas on tour in Spain in 2002 the band was concerned in a bus crash during which the driving force was killed and the band members have been injured.
Mitchell suffered the worst of the group’s accidents, breaking a vertebrae in his again. He was air-lifted to a London hospital and largely recovered after surgical procedure in Los Angeles.
Alien Ant Farm has since launched three extra albums, the latest one in 2015, however none have approached the recognition of ANThology.
In 2020, the band launched a Covid-era remake of Wham’s ‘Every thing She Needs’ that has mustered a half million views on YouTube.
Mitchell has but to be booked for the battery cost, which was filed in absentia.
Defendants in such circumstances are routinely issued a discover to look in court docket, however that hasn’t occurred but on this case and the court docket date has but to be set.
