Misdemeanor charges were filed in Austin Municipal Court on Friday against Everclear frontman Art Alexakis and backup guitarist Brian Lehfeldt for allegedly assaulting a seventeen-year-old female fan at a July 31 concert. Alexakis is wanted for the Class C misdemeanor charge of assault by contact, while Lehfeldt faces the more serious Class A misdemeanor for assault with injury. According to police reports, Lehfeldt allegedly kicked the girl in the shoulder from the stage. Alexakis is accused of pouring water over her head and throwing the water bottle at her.

Fans who saw the incident and police investigating it said Alexakis was upset about being hit by a plastic cup, one of several items thrown from the crowd during a free show at the Austin Music Hall, part of Coca-Cola's "If You Don't Know, You Don't Go" promotional tour. The singer reportedly began calling the audience members "redneck motherfuckers" and said he was going to "beat down" whoever threw the cup. The girl filing the assault charges told police she was then dragged to the front of the stage by security guards and wrongly accused of hitting Alexakis.

"The singer and guitarist confronted the person they thought was responsible for throwing the drink," Austin Police Department spokesman Kevin Buchman said. "The victim in this case did not throw anything."

Glynn Turquand, an attorney representing the girl and her family did not want to comment on the case because of the likelihood of a civil suit. The girl's name was not released because she is a minor.

Another fan at the concert, eighteen-year-old Abbe Carter, said she was shocked that the musicians would assault a fan she described as looking like a "baby doll." "She was obviously young," Carter said. "I saw [her] later, and she was crying. I felt so bad for her... I've seen Everclear before, and Art was always kind of rude. But he was just a plain, old dick."

Everclear's publicists at Capitol Records didn't yet have any comment on behalf of the band, whose members live in Los Angeles and Portland, Ore. The band was on the road over the weekend. Lehfeldt's bond was set at $6,500. No bond was set in Alexakis' case, as is typical of Class C misdemeanors. Police said the musicians are expected to turn themselves in soon to answer the charges.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
(August 9, 1999)