Lifeson Sued By Deputies

It’s well into the new decade and yet the saga of Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson’s New Year’s Eve 1999 arrest at a Naples, Fla., hotel continues.

With the criminal case against him resolved, Lifeson filed suit against the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and three Naples deputies. Two of the cops, in turn, have now filed a countersuit claiming the guitarist attacked them as they tried to eject his son from the hotel.

Lawyers representing the hotel and deputies involved in the arrest filed court papers arguing they acted properly when they arrested Lifeson (real name: Alex Zivojinovich), who allegedly became disorderly after his son, Justin, was asked to leave the party to ring in 2000.

Hotel officials then called authorities, and Collier County sheriff’s deputies Christopher Knott, Scott Russell and Amy Stanford responded to remove Justin Zivojinovich from the property. That’s when things got ugly.

When Alex Zivojinovich intervened, he allegedly shoved Stanford down a stairwell and spit blood in Knott’s face, according to the deputies’ countersuits, which don’t list specific monetary damages.

Justin Zivojinovich was charged with resisting arrest with violence. Alex also was charged with two felonies. In April 2005, the guitarist and his son pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge and received a year of probation.

The deputies’ court filings respond to a federal lawsuit filed in June by Alex Zivojinovich. That lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for battery, unlawful arrest and false imprisonment.

It claims Alex suffered a broken nose and several Taser stun gun hits during the scuffle while his son was subdued and Tasered before his arrest.

Lawyers for the hotel asked U.S. District Judge John Steele to dismiss the initial lawsuit. Attorney Judith Mercier argued the Ritz and its security chief can’t be held legally responsible for the deputies’ actions.

The family’s attorneys have already responded to the countersuits, arguing the deputies knew of the possibility of injury when they tried to remove Justin.

Zivojinovich attorney Paul Weekley also argued the deputies were the aggressors and the guitarist acted only “in good faith and in self-defense.”