Police Deny David Lee Roth Intruder Story
A press release from David Lee Roth says he used a shotgun to stop an intruder at his California home over the weekend. There’s only one problem with the story–the police say it really didn’t happen that way.
According to Roth’s release, at about 3 a.m. PT on Saturday (April 26) he “was awakened by the sounds of breaking branches to discover a man had scaled his manor’s 10 foot high wall. Roth grabbed his shotgun and went onto the grounds where he encountered the man who was carrying a knife. Roth cornered the man and held him until the Pasadena Police arrived to take him away in handcuffs.” At the end of the dramatic confrontation Roth stated, “Anyone found bearing arms here at night…will be found here in the morning.”
A spokesperson for the Pasadena Police Department confirmed that a neighbor of Roth’s, 47-year-old Charles Cooley, was arrested on the singer’s property, but the police account of the events leading up to the arrest are quite different from Roth’s heroic version.
The police report states that Cooley was apparently breaking the windows in his own home–which is near Roth’s–when neighbors called the police. When they arrived they couldn’t find anyone at Cooley’s house, but they heard two men arguing nearby. The police traced the voices to Roth’s estate and asked him to open his security gates. They entered the scene and found Roth standing on a second-floor balcony pointing at Cooley, who was lying flat on the lawn below him.
Cooley told police he was carrying methamphetamine, and he was taken into custody and charged with possession. He also said he had a knife, but it was on the grass a few feet away and was not taken as evidence. There is no mention in the police report of Roth holding a shotgun on Cooley.
Roth is preparing for a lengthy tour that starts May 24 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
He’ll release a new album called “Diamond Dave” on July 8. It features Roth doing his own material, as well as covering artists such as the Beatles, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Miller, Savoy Brown, and Van Halen.
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