LOS ANGELES, May 9 -- Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen was charged Thursday with spousal battery in connection with an attack last year on his wife in a ladies' room at Los Angeles International Airport. Allen is the second member of the rock band to face domestic violence charges this week, following lead singer Joe Elliott's arrest Sunday for spousal assault for fighting with his girlfriend in a West Hollywood hotel.
The charges against Allen, 32, who lost his left arm in a 1984 auto accident, stemmed from an incident last June after he and his 35-year- old wife got off a plane, City Attorney Jim Hahn said. The couple began arguing over what she described to police as pain in her ears. Allen then allegedly grabbed his wife by the arm and pulled her into a ladies' room, choked her and slammed her head against a wall about four times, Hahn said. Allen was booked for spousal battery and released by Los Angles police, and later was allowed to enter a substance abuse counseling program in lieu of prosecution. But a recent review of his participation prompted Hahn to refile the charges. 'He hasn't been going to meetings,' prosecutors' spokesman Ted Goldstein said, adding that the timing in regard to Elliott's case is 'coincidental.' Allen will be arraigned May 22 in West Los Angeles Municipal Court. Elliot will be arraigned May 20 in Beverly Hills Municipal Court. Def Leppard's multiplatinum albums include 1983's 'Pyromania,' 1987's 'Hysteria' and 1992's 'Adrenalize.'
