Def Leppard Member Charged With Battery

Criminal charges were filed Thursday against the drummer for rock group Def Leppard, who is accused of attacking his wife during an argument last June.

Richard John Allen, 32, of Studio City is scheduled to be arraigned May 22 in West Los Angeles Municipal Court on charges of spousal battery and false imprisonment. Each count carries a punishment of up to one year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.

The alleged attack occurred at Los Angeles airport as Allen and his 35-year-old wife walked through a terminal, according to Ted Goldstein, spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney’s office. Allen is accused of grabbing his wife by the arm and pulling her into a women’s restroom where, prosecutors say, he choked her and smashed her head against a wall several times, according to the city attorney’s office.

An airline security officer found the woman lying on the bathroom floor crying, Goldstein said. Airport police called to the scene noticed bruises on the victim’s neck, he said. Police arrested Allen as he stood outside the restroom and transported him to LAPD Pacific Area station, where he was booked and later released, according to Goldstein.

Prosecutors did not file charges earlier because they had to postpone hearings several times to accommodate Allen’s concert engagements, according to Mike Qualls, spokesman for the city attorney. When the prosecutors met with Allen, he agreed to undergo counseling and the case was put under review. But, the city attorney’s office refiled the case after learning that Allen dropped out of counseling, Qualls said.