Local cops fooled by Van Halen imposter

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2008/07/10/6124136.html

Pulled-over Roth was Van Halen imposter

Thu, July 10, 2008

By SUN MEDIA


SIMCOE — David Lee Roth was not in Ontario May 23, was not over pulled over by Brant OPP, and oh, and he’s not allergic to peanuts.
"I was in Canada only from July first through the fourth for a performance at the Quebec City Summer Festival. I had no encounters or incidents with the police. The only thing I'm allergic to is criticism," Roth said tonight in a statement sent to Sun Media by his publicist, Elaine Schock of Shock Inc.

As well, Van Halen publicist Janie Liszewski of High Profile Media confirmed Roth and his bandmates were elsewhere that night.

“Indeed they did play at Madison Square Garden in New York on the 23rd,” Liszewski said.

The nutty tale about Roth’s alleged incident started after word got out that Brant OPP stopped a speeding driver at 7 p.m. on May 23 and found the driver was in anaphylactic shock due to a peanut allergy. The story was first reported by CTV earlier this week.

Two young officers got paramedic assistance for the man and one of them visited him later at the Brantford General Hospital. Police said the man identified himself as David Lee Roth.

But Const. Larry Plummer said the officers didn’t know at the time what the real Roth looks like. “The guys didn’t put a report in till later in the week and someone else in the office spotted the name and went, ‘Hey!’” Plummer told Sun Media.

Now the OPP are trying to verify the story, too, saying they can’t confirm whether the responding officers actually got ID from the man who they helped.

Roth is best known as the lead singer of Van Halen. Their hits with Roth at vocals include Running With The Devil, Panama, The Cradle Will Rock, Jump, Jamie's Crying and Hot For Teacher. Roth left the band in 1985, but recently reunited with them for a reunion tour.

Media reports have been swirling about the incident. Yesterday a Hamilton newspaper reported the man who was thought to be Roth was partying at the Liquid Lounge in Brantford after his ordeal, possibly with two nurses from the hospital. The story said the man sang a song with a band performing at the bar.

But the club’s owner was asking herself today if it was really the rocker.

“It seemed to be him and when I asked him, ‘Are you David Lee Roth’, he said, ‘Yes,’ but there’ve been a million discussions in here since,” Liquid Lounge owner Cheri Walsh said.

Walsh also admitted that she wouldn’t know the real Roth. She noted that the man was wearing a hospital bracelet, didn’t drink and was wearing expensive clothes.

The story of Roth’s appearance in the area was questioned after videos showed up on the website YouTube of a Van Halen concert May 23.

“The story is bs. I told that to anyone who asked,” Schock told the Reformer last night in an e-mail.


For the latest local coverage, read The London Free Press on the web or in print.

I think I saw the wannabe Roth at the Lighthouse Theatre doorway last night. It looks a lot like a younger version of DLR. He did seem to be looking to see if people were looking to see him, if you catch my drift.

Hey Blue Jays Fan - you realize that the London Free Press is using a Simcoe Reformer story, right? They're all Sun Media - the reporter who wrote the story is from the Reformer and she told me they all share stuff. This story was on the Reformer website too.

Sabs wrote:

Hey Blue Jays Fan - you realize that the London Free Press is using a Simcoe Reformer story, right? They're all Sun Media - the reporter who wrote the story is from the Reformer and she told me they all share stuff. This story was on the Reformer website too.

I realize that but the story was on the London Free Press website at 8 p.m. the day before it appeared in the Reformer or on the Reformer's website. The Free Press website is always updated several times per day but the Reformer's website is usually updated just once per day.

The Brantford Expositor is also now Sun Media.