Alien Ant Farm singer Dryden Mitchell is facing a misdemeanor battery charge for an alleged incident with a fan that took place in October of last year. The 46-year-old nu-metal singer is being accused of grabbing a male fan's outstretched hand during a show in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and allegedly forcing the hand onto Mitchell's own groin area.
According to reporting by the Daily Mail, the encounter occurred at Alien Ant Farm's show on October 29th, and then two weeks later, on November 15th, the 45-year-old fan went to the police and filed a report claiming that Mitchell had assaulted him during the performance.
In YouTube footage of the incident highlighted by the Daily Mail, Mitchell can be seen singing onstage, pointing to a fan in the front row, grabbing the fan's hand and then bringing his hand up to the groin area of his pants. After about a second of contact, the fan can be seen quickly yanking his hand away from Mitchell's grasp.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the man alleging the assault, whose name has not yet been made public, said he had no idea what prompted Mitchell to do what he allegedly did. "I do want to tell my story but I do have to listen to my civil lawyers," the man said. "I'll be more than happy to speak later. I do want the story out there because what happened was not right."
On December 30th, the Broward State Attorney's Office filed a first-degree misdemeanor charge against Mitchell that the Daily Mail reports is punishable by up to a year in jail. A police statement provided to the Daily Mail claims that the man said he was trying to reach out to get a picture with Mitchell when the alleged incident occurred. Mitchel has yet to publicly comment on the matter.
See footage of the incident below.
