Rush Guitarist Busted for Brawl

Mon., Jan. 5, 2004 10:15 AM PST by Josh Grossberg

Exit stage left?and go to jail.

That's the way Rush guitarist savant Alex Lifeson rang in the New Year, spending the midnight hour in the slammer after getting busted for for allegedly assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest at a New Year's Eve bash Wednesday night in Naples, Florida.

Lifeson, who was booked under his given name, Alex Zivojinovich, faces six charges, including aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest and drunken violent behavior following a scuffle that broke out shortly before midnight at a posh party at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, according to the Naples Daily News.

The confrontation got started when the fret-man's 33-year-old son, Justin Zivojinovich, joined the house band on stage to sing his wife a song. But local sheriff's deputies told the younger Zivojinovich to get off after someone called hotel security.

When Justin refused to stand down, authorities tried to forcibly remove him. That's when Daddy purportedly lost his cool and came out swinging.

Police reports filed by the Collier County Sheriff's Office indicate that during the ensuing melee, Lifeson spat blood on a deputy's face and pushed a female deputy down a hotel stairwell. He was so rowdy and violent, one report contends, that officers said they were forced to use a stun gun to subdue him.

Justin Zivojinovich was also arrested, as was his 30-year-old wife, Michelle. The couple were released on New Year's Day.

Because four of the six counts against him are felonies, including striking an officer--charges that carry a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in jail--the 50-year-old virtuoso wasn't released from lockup until Friday after posting $15,000 bail.

Lifeson exited the lockup in same black suit he was wearing for the party--he also sported a pair of black, a swollen nose and blood stains on his white shirt.

"This gives new meaning to dinner at the Ritz," the guitarist told the Naples Daily News. "They didn't like the way we were dancing, apparently."

The musician's son also disputed the police version of events, blaming the fracas on an overly zealous security detail.

"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 told the newspaper. "Everyone was enjoying themselves. That's when someone apparently started yelling for one of the security guards. There was no violence on our part."

He claimed it was deputies who instigated the fight that resulted in his father's broken nose, not the other way around.

Lifeson's attorney, Jerry Berry, was not immediately available for comment; neither was a publicist for the band.

The guitarist, who makes up the prog-rock trio with fellow Canadians Neil Peart and Geddy Lee, maintains a part-time residence in Naples.

For Rush fans, such bad boy behavior seems out of character coming from a guy best known for his riffs on such classic rock radio staples as "The Spirit of Radio," "Tom Sawyer," "Limelight" and "Freewill." The band, which has notched 23 gold and platinum in a four-decade career, released its latest album, the triple-disc concert collection Rush in Rio, in October.

Lifeson is scheduled for arraignment on January 26.