Lee’s Big Chopper Problem

A helicopter pilot that took Tommy Lee on a trip to see Nine Inch Nails is in hot water after making a couple of stops during the ride that didn’t sit well with the Los Angeles Police Department.

The Mötley Crüe drummer was flying across town to see NIN at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine July 7th when the chopper stopped outside a residence in the Hollywood Hills, according to the Los Angeles Times. The visit didn’t sit well with City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, who filed criminal charges against the pilot.

David Keith Martz was charged with one count each of reckless flying, landing an aircraft on a public road and landing an aircraft without a permit. Martz was expected to be arraigned August 2nd. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

City officials told the Times the only other incident they could recall of a celebrity landing on a public street was decades ago when a helicopter visited Frank Sinatra’s home. Officials couldn’t remember details of the repercussions, if there were any.

LAPD’s Air Support division was alerted by phone calls that a chopper was hovering above a Hollywood home, officials told the paper. The pilot could not be reached, and officers watched as Martz landed on the street and entered the residence.

The pilot was told that he had made an illegal landing. Martz, Lee and two other passengers then got in the helicopter and flew away, officials told the Times. Martz came back two hours later and landed at the residence again.

“The public perception is, yeah, if I had enough money I would just go here and there in my helicopter,” Los Angeles Fire Department pilot Larry Harris told the paper. “But it really doesn’t do you any good, because you can only go from airport to airport.”