Vince Neil Arrested on Drunk Driving Charge

November 22, 2009: Motley Crue singer Vince Neil and his wife Lia arrive at the 2009 American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California. Neil was arrested early Monday on a drunk driving charge. (Reuters)

LAS VEGAS – Motley Crue singer Vince Neil, who last week had declared his sobriety, was arrested on drunken driving charges after getting pulled over by police in his Lamborghini near the Las Vegas Strip.

The 49-year-old rocker was taken into custody about 11:15 p.m. Sunday when he was stopped in the black sports car after leaving the Las Vegas Hilton hotel, Officer Bill Cassell said. Neil was released Monday after posting $2,000 bail.

Attorney David Chesnoff called it "premature" Monday to respond to the charge until he and attorney Richard Schonfeld collect information about the arrest.

Cassell, a Las Vegas police spokesman, said details of Neil's arrest would not be publicly released, and a police report would not be made available during the investigation.

Neil is the front man for a four-member heavy metal band known for its bad behavior, hard partying, famous girlfriends and hits like "Girls, Girls, Girls," and "Dr. Feelgood." He said last week that he was sober and that there are "other things in life than just drugs and alcohol."

Neil and his fourth wife, Lia, live in Las Vegas, where Neil owns tattoo shops, a bar called Feelgoods Rock Bar and Grill, and the Vince Neil Tres Rios Cantina at the Las Vegas Hilton.

He recently released a solo album, "Tattoos and Tequila," covering 1970s rock songs and a rendition of Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas."

In an interview last week with The Associated Press about a tell-all book due out in September, Neil said he hadn't used drugs in 20 years and had stopped abusing alcohol.

"There's just a point in your life where you kind of stop, that's what happened with me," Neil had said. "There's other things in life than just drugs and alcohol."

Neil said he admired the sobriety of top performers today.

"Those are the guys that are doing it right," he said. "It's the ones that self-destruct with the drugs and alcohol that have gone by the wayside many years ago."

Cassell said police also were looking into a report of an incident involving Neil, a female fan and a broken camera in front of the Las Vegas Hilton hotel.

The arrest was not Neil's first drunken driving case. In 1984, he crashed a sports car head-on into another car in Redondo Beach, Calif., killing his passenger, Nicholas Dingley, a 24-year-old drummer with the group Hanoi Rocks.

Neil, then 25, wasn't injured. He later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and drunken driving, served 20 days in jail, and agreed to pay $2.5 million in restitution to victims.

Neil also has had misdemeanor battery charges dismissed at least twice in California and Nevada after performing community service. One stemmed from an accusation that he roughed up a prostitute in 2003 at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch brothel in northern Nevada.

Neil is due Sept. 27 in Las Vegas Justice Court.