VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. -- Acclaimed concert violinist Eugene Fodor was behind bars Saturday on drug, weapons and burglary charges after a break-in at a Martha's Vineyard motel, police said.
State and local police were summoned to the Vineyard Harbor Motel after a chambermaid found Fodor in a room that was listed as unoccupied and notified the manager, authorities said.
Fodor, 39, was carrying 20 grams of cocaine, a small amount of heroin, a dagger, a hypodermic needle and some pills when he was arrested at 11:30 a.m. Friday, police said.
Tisbury police Sgt. Justin Welch said the Denver-born Fodor was charged with burglary, possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to distribute, possession of a deadly weapon and possession of the syringe.
Fodor was held at the Duke's County Jail in Edgartown in lieu of $50,000 cash bail after a district judge refused to accept his 300-year-old violin as surety.
The manager of the 42-room motel, who refused to give her name, said Saturday that the suspect removed a screen from an unlocked window to gain access to one of the facility's few empty rooms.
'He claimed he arrived here late and there was nobody at the door. That's not so,' she said. 'I was here.'
When she confronted Fodor in the morning, the manager said she asked him what he was doing in the room. 'He told me he had paid for the room. I said, 'No, you didn't.' Then the phone rang. He ran back into the room and locked the door. I called the police,' the manager said.
Ranked among the top classical violin soloists, Fodor rose to prominence in 1974 when he became the first American to share honors in the prestigious Tchaikovsky Violin Competition in Moscow.
A fashion renegade who prefers cowboy boots and denims to black tie, Fodor made his solo debut with the Denver Symphony Orchestra and has been a guest soloist with orchestras throughout the world. He attended the Juilliard School of Music in New York.
At Hillyer International, Fodor's talent agency in New York, spokesman Kirby Lovallo told the New York Daily News the arrest was 'bizarre.'
'All I can tell you is this is totally unlike Gene,' Lovallo said. 'He just returned from playing several concerts, and he's scheduled to perform next week on the Jersey Shore. He has an overseas tour this fall.'
Fodor has a pretrial conference scheduled Aug. 3 in District Court, police said.
