Milli Vanilli Figure Flees Drug Center

Robert Pilatus, half of the disgraced duo Milli Vanilli, continued to fall from his brief celebrity on Friday, with authorities announcing that he had abandoned a North Hollywood rehabilitation facility and is being sought on a $60,000 arrest warrant.

Hollywood Municipal Judge Michael Mink issued the warrant late Thursday after the facility’s managers notified him that Pilatus, 31, walked out the back door of the 120-client site two days before and had not returned.

In April, Mink had ordered the one-time star to undergo six months of treatment at the live-in center Cry Help as part of his sentence for winter attacks against three men.

“Apparently, he went to the kitchen for some food” then left, said Mike Qualls, spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.

Pilatus and former partner Fabrice Morvan were stripped of their 1990 best new artist Grammy after admitting they never sang a note on the album “Girl You Know It’s True,” which sold 10 million copies.

The confession destroyed the duo’s career and sparked an examination of lip-syncing in the recording industry. Since then, Pilatus has run afoul of the law several times.

Pilatus pleaded no contest to criminal charges stemming from the three attacks and admitted he had violated his probation from an earlier conviction last fall.

He was supposed to serve a 90-day jail term in addition to his stay at Cry Help.

On Dec. 21, 1995, Pilatus entered an acquaintance’s Hollywood apartment and struck the man several times in the face and head with the metal base of a lamp after being asked to leave, said Deputy City Atty. Bill Sterling. Pilatus also telephoned the victim the next day and threatened to kill him, Sterling said.

After pleading no contest to assault with a deadly weapon and making a threatening telephone call, he was ordered to stay away from the victim.

On Jan. 18, police said Pilatus vandalized a Beverly Glen home and slapped the 51-year-old owner, who accused Pilatus of stealing his watch the day before. Pilatus caused an estimated $1,600 in damage to the man’s house, police said.

He pleaded no contest to vandalism and was ordered not to harass the victim.

Pilatus broke into a car parked along Van Ness Avenue in Los Angeles on Feb. 4, then attacked the owner, who had confronted him. The owner grabbed an aluminum baseball bat and hit Pilatus in the forehead, knocking him to the ground. The man detained Pilatus until police arrived.

Pilatus repeatedly threatened to kill the man in the presence of police, Sterling said. He pleaded no contest to battery, auto tampering and threatening a crime victim.

He was again ordered to stay away from his victim.

In 1991, Pilatus slashed his wrist, took prescription pills, drank a fifth of bourbon and balanced on the railing of a ninth-floor Sunset Strip hotel room balcony before sheriff’s deputies brought him down.

Marlene Nadel, director of client services at Cry Help, would not comment on Pilatus’ condition, citing doctor-patient confidentiality.