Rock Band Leader Held On 3 Charges

Rock band leader held on 3 charges

By WILLIAM B. TREML
NEWS STAFF REPORTER

The 33-year-old leader of an Illinois-based rock band who Ann Arbor police say beats his face and head with a microphone and exposes himself on stage was arraigned Wednesday in 15th District Court on three criminal charges.

Kevin M. Allin had been sought by Ann Arbor police for months following a performance in a University of Michigan dormitory last April.

The office of Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney William F. Delhey issued warrants for Allin last May on charges of indecent exposure and assault and battery after witnesses told Ann Arbor police that he had masturbated, kicked a U-M woman student in the stomach and hit another student with a chair during an unscheduled performance by Allin’s group, the “Toilet Rockers,” at the U-M’s East Quad.

At the same time the misdemeanor warrants were issued, a felony warrant was authorized charging Allin with assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. That charge stemmed from an incident after the concert in an apartment on North Fourth Avenue, where Allin burned and beat a 25-year-old woman so severely that she spent 12 days in University Hospital, police allege.

Doctors said the victim’s leg burns were the result of exposure to flame or extreme heat for a period of at least 20 minutes, according to police.

“He’s into sadism and masochism,” Ann Arbor Police Detective Mary Smith said of Allin. “He told me during an interview before arraignment that what he does on stage is all part of his rock ’n’ roll performance. He said, ‘My fans expect it.’ ”

Smith investigated the case with police Detective Frank Hoy. They agree that Allin’s actions and lifestyle are among the most bizarre they have encountered in decades of police work.

“It’s a weird case with a weird defendant,” Hoy said. “He’s a strange one. He’s knocked all his front teeth out hitting himself with microphones during acts. He’s bloodied his head hitting himself with microphones. He beats spectators. He exposes himself.”

Detective Lt. Dale Heath, head of the police-department's Major Crimes Division, said Allin claims to have recorded a dozen rock ’n’ roll songs which he wrote. Heath said the lyrics to all the songs are laced with profanity and obscenities.

Smith said Allin “claims he’s going to finish his career on Halloween night in 1990 by committing suicide on stage and taking some spectators with him. Hopefully, it won’t be here.”

Allin has toured the country with the “Toilet Rockers” and told Smith he has been charged with assault and indecent exposure in other states because of his actions on stage, she said.

Allin’s antics at the East Quad, 701 East University Ave., last April caused a near-riot, witnesses told police.

Toni Guzzardo, manager of a snack bar/theater called the “Halfway Inn” at the dormitory, said Allin and his group barged uninvited into the area and “took over the stage.”

"The East Quad Music Co-Op sponsors student concerts and poetry reading during Open Mike Night every week,” Guzzardo said. “It’s all student-run and if you want to appear, you sign up in advance. This bunch just came storming in. I’ve been here 11 years and I’ve never been so apprehensive and frightened in my life. They just walked in off the street and went up on the stage and started in.

“They were on stage for only about 15 minutes but it was horrible,” he said. “They were ordered off, they were heckled, yelled at, but they wouldn’t get off. The Music Co-Op kids shut off the sound on the stage and the housing security officers moved in but this bunch just kept on.

Allin and his band were finally forced out of the snack bar, police were called and statements were taken from students who were present.

Last weekend, Allin’s car was stopped in southern Illinois near St. Louis by U.S. Secret Service agents who had been checking contacts made recently with John Hinckley, the man who attempted to assassinate former President Ronald Reagan.

Heath said Allin had tried to contact Hinckley. When federal officers ran Allin’s name through the national law computer network, they discovered the Ann Arbor warrants. Allin was transported to the Cook County Jail in Chicago and local Ann Arbor police were notified.

He waived extradition.

In court Wednesday, Allin demanded a preliminary examination on the charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. He also pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of indecent exposure and assault and battery.

Judge S.J. Elden scheduled the examination on the felony charge for Sept. 20 and a pre-trial date of Sept. 26 for the misdemeanors.

Attorneys were appointed to represent him. Elden remanded Allin to the County Jail when he was unable to post a $10,000 cash bond on the felony or a $250 bond on the misdemeanors.

ALLIN