NAPLES, Fla.  — The lead guitarist for the rock band Rush (search) faces criminal charges after a New Year's Eve fight with sheriff's deputies.

Alex Zivojinovich, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson (search), was arrested for what deputies described as drunken, violent behavior at the Naples Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Deputies said they used a stun gun on Zivojinovich, 50, who faces six charges that include aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, and disorderly intoxication.

Also arrested were his 33-year-old son Justin Zivojinovich and wife Michelle Zivojinovich, 30.

Justin Zivojinovich said his father, who was still in Collier County jail late Thursday, had his nose broken by deputies.

He also said his father did not throw a female deputy down the stairs, as stated in arrest reports. She tumbled down the stairs as she pushed the guitarist down the stairwell, his son said.

The scuffle began when Justin Zivojinovich refused to leave a stage, according to the arrest report.

Rush's hits include "Tom Sawyer," (search) from the 1981 album "Moving Pictures," "Limelight" and "Spirit of the Radio."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107219,00.html

Interesting how the use of pain compliance devices usually lead to more violence.

As more than one local LEO has told me; after you use pepper spray on someone - that's when the fight really begins.

Anyway, try to push a cop down some stairs and he ends up with a broken nose?  Sounds like Alex got what he deserved.

Rock on!

His  lifeblood...spill...ooooooooovvvvverrrr....

Somebody obviously messing with his "Freewill"!

[peep]

... and the meek shall inherit the earth ...

Bummer...

Alex is a genuinely nice guy and many people have remarked that he is the funniest guy they have ever known. That just goes to show that too much alcohol can make a mess of things from time to time. And it goes to show that being in "The Limelight" can suck heavily at times.

May Alex put this mess behind him and learn a valuable lesson. I think he will. He is not of the Robert Downey school of continued run-ins with the wrong side of the law. He is a higher caliber of person than that.

At any rate, I hope this does not affect the upcoming 30th Anniversary Rush tour that is supposed to take place in '04.

Yep. Violence sucks.




Naw- they're gonna have to tour now- just to pay for Alex's legal bills.....[rolleyes]

I knew he was getting up there in age, but at 50, you'd think he'd slow down a bit?  lol

Damn, he is in jail. Hope he avoids the passage to Bangkok.
Doesn't look like he demonstrated much Grace under pressure.

I Hope is lawyer does everything in his power to tun the career or those f'ing cops. especially the bitch that triped down the stairs.

Here is a detailed story on this "happening".
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN_14940_2547066,00.html

I am a long time Rush fan, and when you see people in these mug shots it always makes them look so "criminal" when compared to the way they really look. I was looking at myself in the mirror the other day, after seeing a followup to that story on Glen Campbell -- wondering how bad I'd look in a mug shot. Hopefully I'll never find-out.

Anyways... in the story Alex' son certainly appears to be the one who started the whole thing. As one who has played professionally for many years, I have had more than one run-in with some drunken person who wants to barge up onstage to make a fool of themselves on the mic. So it looks like that is what happened, and then when things got a little more heated and Dad (Alex) got involved out of some drunken parental protection instinct it just got worse. I imagine that with the lack of alcohol in Alex' system now, he is feeling pretty stupid about all of this. I can't fault the Sheriffs deputies for their actions. It just sounds like the Lifeson family got a little carried away on New Year's Eve.

I HOPE these cops didn't go home safely

Sounds like the Snowdog lost to By-Tor this time around...

[shock]

How funny would it be if Big Al had a Rush concert t-shirt wearing obsessive fan as a cellmate who pestered him to no end?

Welcome to hell, Alex.

Hey Cheat - I bet if you learned to spell and use proper grammar you'ld get a better reaction.  People would recognize you as an educated and ignorant troll rather than just a plain ignorant troll.  Probably get the same reaction though, although people would think you were in HS and not Jr. High.