Alien Ant Farm lead singer charged with battery after 'placing fan's hand on his crotch'

The lead singer of Alien Ant Farm has been charged with battery after he allegedly forced a fan's hand to his crotch.

Dryden Mitchell was performing a gig in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last year when he is said to have grabbed hold of the fan's hand.

The frontman was doing the band's hit cover of Michael Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal', when the incident allegedly happened on 29 October.

In footage shared on YouTube, which was part of the evidence put forward against Mitchell, a fan can be seen pulling their hand away from him.

YouTube

According to police documents, two weeks after the incident, a 45-year-old filed a complaint with Fort Lauderdale Police Department.

The report stated the fan immediately pulled his hand away from the singer's.

"The lead singer of the Alien Ant Farm band, Dryden Mitchell, was on the stage in front of [victim] stated he had his fist in the air and was trying to get a picture with Mitchell," it read.

"[Victim] advised that Mitchell grabbed his fist while it was in the air, and pulled the fist into his private area (genital area) against his pants.

"[Victim] stated he immediately pulled his hand away at that point."

It went on: "[He] did not feel this was proper behaviour to do in front of all the concertgoers and also stated there were kids in the crowd as well.

Sipa US/Alamy

"[The fan] advised he wanted to report the incident to police."

When asked why he didn't come to the police sooner, the man said it was 'because the incident was not sitting well with him'.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, the complainant said he wanted to make sure the issue was brought to light.

He told the outlet: "I do want to tell my story but I do have to listen to my civil lawyers. I’ll be more than happy to speak later.

"I do want the story out there because what happened was not right."

Police did not comment on the case, but did say that a complaint had been made.

UNILAD has reached out to Dryden Mitchell's representatives for a comment over the allegations.

Topics: Crime, Police, US News, Music, Entertainment

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers is the News/Agenda Desk Lead, covering the latest trends and breaking stories. After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History, he went on to write for the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express. So as you can imagine, he’s spent many a night wondering just how useful that second language has been. But c'est la vie.

@SmithersDom