Alien Ant Farm frontman Dryden Mitchell faces the prospect of one year in prison if found guilty of a first-degree misdemeanour charge arising from a concert in Fort Lauderdale, Florida last October. The charge is based upon an allegation that the 46-year-old singer pulled a male fan's hand onto his "genital area" at a show at the Broward Center For The Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale on October 29, 2022.
Reporting the charge, the Daily Mail says that video footage of the gig shows the moment when the singer "inexplicably clenched a fan's outreached hand and placed it on his groin."
On November 15, the fan, a 45-year-old man from Miami, filed a complaint with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department alleging that Mitchell had assaulted him.
'[The fan] said he had his fist in the air and was trying to get a picture with Mitchell,' the police report reads.
'[He] 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. [He] stated he immediately pulled his hand away at that point.'
The fan told police officer Arthur Jennings that the singer's action 'was not sitting well with him' and that he wanted to press charges.
The man told DailyMail.com that he had no idea what prompted Mitchell to do what he did and said he was saving further comment for a later time.
Mitchell has yet to respond to the police charge.
Alien Ant Farm are best known for their nu-metal take on Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal, which reached number 3 on the UK singles' chart in 2001.
