Alien Ant Farm performed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida back in October. During their performance of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal,” singer Dryden Mitchell grabbed a fan’s hand and placed it on his crotch.
Video shows the fan quickly yanking his hand away, but the concertgoer has since filed a report against the singer alleging assault.
According to The Daily Mail, on December 30, the Broward State Attorney’s Office filed a first-degree misdemeanor charge against Mitchell, who is facing up to one year in jail if convicted.
In their report, police wrote: “[The fan] said he had his fist in the air and was trying to get a picture with Mitchell. [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 that he decided to report the crime well after the fact because it “was not sitting well with him.”
“[He] did not feel this was proper behavior to do in front of all the concertgoers and also stated there were kids in the crowd as well,” police wrote. “[The fan] advised he wanted to report the incident to police.”
The fan did give brief comment to The Daily Mail saying he didn’t know what prompted the singer’s actions. “I do want to tell my story but I do have to listen to my civil lawyers,” said the man. “I’ll be more than happy to speak later. I do want the story out there because what happened was not right.”
Alien Ant Farm formed in 1996 and tallied their biggest hits with 2001’s “Movies” and the aforementioned Michael Jackson cover, which was a No. 1 single in Australia and New Zealand and also reached No. 1 on the U.S. Modern Rock charts.
