Monday, April 2, 2007

Local drummer catches fleas from vintage thrift-store jacket

The drummer for Echo Park-based rock band The New Motherfuckers was hospitalized late Monday after catching fleas from a newly purchased vintage thrift-store jacket.

Tyler Sabbag, 23, was being treated at press time at Los Angeles County USC Medical Center, and was listed in serious but stable condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

New Motherfuckers guitarist Duncan Thum told The Tsunami that at about 1 p.m. Monday he and Sabbag visited the Atwater Village branch of the popular Out of the Closet thrift store, where Sabbag purchased a vintage leather jacket for $7.25.

Tyler was pretty stoked about this jacket, and he was wearing it when we went for drinks at the Echo later that evening,” Thum said in an interview at the hospital waiting room.

According to several witnesses at the Echo, Sabbag began to act strange after knocking back a half dozen Tanqueray and tonics.

Tyler was having a blast,” Thum said. “He was giving high fives to strangers and yelling ‘woooo’ really loud. Then when the DJ put on ‘Dancing With Myself,’ Tyler started going nuts out on the dance floor.”

As Sabbag’s gyrations became more outrageous, a large group of club-goers formed a circle around the drummer and started clapping and cheering him on, Thum said.

“After about 30 seconds, Tyler fell to the floor and started rolling around,” Thum said. “Everyone was whooping and hollering, thinking it was part of the dance, but I began to get concerned when he started yelling.”

“Fucking goddamn piece of shit,” Sabbag reportedly screamed. “Somebody help me, I’ve got fleas!”

A bartender spotted Sabbag grimacing in pain and called paramedics, who conducted emergency CPR on the drummer before transporting him via helicopter to the hospital.

Los Angeles Police Capt. Ed Parker said the department was not conducting a criminal investigation into the incident.

“You again? How many more stupid questions are you going to ask before you give up?” Parker told The Tsunami. “There is no way we would arrest a jacket, fleas or not. How about writing a real news story from time to time; no one wants to read about some stupid band.”

New Motherfuckers singer Geoff Geis said in a statement that he resented being called “stupid” by Parker.

“He’s really not being constructive,” Geis said.

END

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