John Landato, who plays drums in Beyond Our Recognitions of God, a band tied to Dads Against Meth Use, was stabbed in the neck outside Goathead Saloon and was taken to the the hospital where he spent two days recovering.
The band issued a statement saying the stabber was a "crazed junky" who singled them out because of their anti-meth message. They're calling it "a hate crime." Cops say they didn't find any drug paraphernalia on the suspect but that he appeared to "be under the influence of at least alcohol."
Perhaps this mugshot helps tell the story.
So what happened?
B.O.R.G band members say they were hanging out in their van, which prominently displays their anti-meth message in paint, after playing.
An agitated man wandered up from the Motel 6 nearby, then tossed a softball-sized rock through the open window, says Mesa Police Sgt. Ed Wessing. Guys from the band went out to confront him, leading him to mock the band's anti-meth stance, according to Wessing. The disagreement escalated, with Landato trying to hold back his friends, when the alleged stabber, Darrell Robertson, 31, of Mesa, pulled out a knife and made a "slashing motion" hitting Landato, police say.
Robertson, the alleged stabber, fled to the Motel 6 next door where he called police claiming he'd been jumped, according to Wessing. Cops weren't buying it, and after he allegedly confessed, cops arrested him on charges of aggravated assault.
Ginger Brunson, a member of Beyond Our Recognitions of God, says the whole incident was pretty weird.
"We were in a little RV kind of thing, everybody was just hanging out, being groovy," she says, before Roberston approached, cursing at the people in the van. "I've never seen anything like that in my life. It was crazy."
The D.A.M.U group says there's a lesson here:
"We are just out spreading the word of sobriety. Our Message is a positive one, we want a drug free future for the next generation, we preach educate, not incarceration, we want kids and their parents to know the dangers of chemical dependant drugs. Thru [sic] our music and testimonies we spread the word. This is a perfect example as why we need to get drugs off the streets and away from our kids."
It also falls under "shit we can't make up."
