OPP Saves David Lee Roth

[Yuri]

Now look who's in the neighbourhood....

***********************

July 8, 2008
Ontario Provincial Police credited for saving David Lee Roth's life
Former Van Halen star suffers medical emergency in Ontario

By MONTE SONNENBERG, Sun Media

http://www.torontosun.com/News/Canad...8/6101841.html

Rock star David Lee Roth suffered a medical emergency during a recent visit to a rural Ontario town.

Brant OPP pulled over a rented vehicle for speeding last month in Oakland north of Waterford. Roth, the driver, was suffering an allergic reaction to nuts. Officers stayed with Roth until paramedics arrived.

Const. Larry Plummer of the Brant OPP said it is an exaggeration to suggest the officers saved Roth’s life. What the officers did, Plummer said, is routine for police everywhere.

Plummer doesn’t know how word of the incident got out. OPP don’t normally comment on medical assists.

He said the young constables involved didn’t know who they were dealing with, nor did they know of Roth, 53, when told of his history*.

“We didn’t run anything on it because it’s something we come across everyday,” Plummer said. “We try to protect people’s privacy when it involves personal information.”

Const. Chris Thompson was one of the officers who helped. Thompson may not have known who Roth was, but he recognized immediately that there was something different about him.

“At the time, I wasn’t star struck,” Thompson said. “I was just trying to help him. The guy stuck out like a sore thumb. He was wearing a little silk scarf and flashy clothing – it’s not something you see in Oakland too often.”

Plummer said Roth has been seen in the Simcoe area in recent weeks. Plummer added that Roth’s appearance has changed since the rock band Van Halen exploded on the scene in the late 1970s.

Bob Boisclair of Erie Music in downtown Simcoe said he has also heard that Roth has been hanging around the Norfolk area. Boisclair said the talk suggests Roth is considering buying property in Port Dover.

Robert Bianchini of Scorpion Recording Studio in Port Dover has heard numerous reports of the famous and semi-famous eyeing land along the Norfolk shoreline, Port Dover in particular. Bianchini said it is conceivable Roth was in southern Ontario late last month because Van Halen played in Quebec City July 3 as part of that’s city’s 400th anniversary celebration.

Roth is the voice behind Van Halen’s most famous songs. These include Running With The Devil, Panama, The Cradle Will Rock, Jump, Jamie’s Crying and Hot For Teacher.

Depending on the source, Roth either quit Van Halen or was fired in 1985. His relationship with guitar player Eddie Van Halen has always been stormy. Roth enjoyed moderate success as a solo artist with covers of such tunes as Ice Cream Man and Just A Gigolo.

Roth was tapped to replace shock jock Howard Stern at New York City radio station K-Rock in 2005. The gig didn’t last. Soon after, Roth and Van Halen reconciled their differences and resumed making music together.

There was no reply to an e-mail from Roth’s publicist.

*God, I feel old......

[Nightingale]

Sounds like David Lee Roth was pretty lucky

I never really liked him very much...I like the Sammy H./Van Halen years better.

[Gord H]

That happened 15 minutes away from me! I'd like to know how old these officers were, I think I would know David Lee Roth if I saw him... and listening to some radio stations around here, some are wondering if this news was a hoax or something.

I can see Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray or any number of Canadian artists driving around here because Brantford is not that far from TO, but David Lee Roth just driving through the sticks for the heck of it? Hmmm.

Also the officers would have to run his driver's licence through.

[Yuri]

In the words of 'The Who' - "won't get fooled again...."

July 11, 2008
It wasn't David Lee Roth

By SAM COLAIACOVO, SUN MEDIA

BRANTFORD -- It's tough to be in two places at once.
While newspapers, radio shows and the Internet had been abuzz at the news that David Lee Roth was rescued by the OPP in the Brantford area last month, in fact the man assisted by police during a traffic stop was not the rocker.
Turns out the real Roth was tearing up Madison Square Garden with Van Halen during a makeup concert on May 23. That was the same night a man believed to be Roth was in medical distress while driving in Oakland, about 15 km south of Brantford.
Roth himself issued a statement yesterday denying it was him.
Brantford OPP stopped a speeding driver that night and found he was in shock due to a peanut allergy. Two officers got paramedic assistance for the man. They'd never heard of Roth.
They filed a report, word got out, and soon the story was all over the Internet.
The OPP say they can't confirm if the two officers got the man's ID but, a constable says, "our guys did an awesome job" of aiding whoever he was.