Former Allman Brothers Band lead guitarist and songwriter Dickey Betts has been charged with domestic battery, accused of punching his wife in the face while she was driving, police said. Betts was released from jail Sunday on $2,000 bail after being arrested Saturday, the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune reported today (Aug. 14).
The 57-year-old musician told a deputy he "did not know how the victim (Donna Betts) received her injury," a police report said. Michael Mosca, Betts' attorney, did not immediately return a phone message late yesterday (Aug. 13).
Betts was an original member of the Allman Brothers Band and wrote some of the group's most famous songs, such as "Jessica" and "Ramblin Man." Last year, he split with the Southern rock pioneers over what other band members described as "creative differences."
"It got more and more to where it became 'The Dickey Betts Band'," Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks told Billboard.com earlier this week. "We put up with it for a quite a while. And frankly, it had reached a point with me where if we had to keep going the way we were going, I was quitting. There was so much tension, so much anger and so much animosity flying around that it just wasn't any fun."
Betts, who was convicted of domestic battery in January, has had a number of arrests and stays in rehabilitation centers in southwest Florida in recent years. Late last month, the artist released a solo album, "Let's Get Together," via Back Alley/FreeFalls Entertainment. Betts is scheduled to perform Saturday at the Pocono Bikers Music Rally in Blakeslee, Pa., according to his official Web site.
Copyright 2001 Billboard.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.
The 57-year-old musician told a deputy he "did not know how the victim (Donna Betts) received her injury," a police report said. Michael Mosca, Betts' attorney, did not immediately return a phone message late yesterday (Aug. 13).
Betts was an original member of the Allman Brothers Band and wrote some of the group's most famous songs, such as "Jessica" and "Ramblin Man." Last year, he split with the Southern rock pioneers over what other band members described as "creative differences."
"It got more and more to where it became 'The Dickey Betts Band'," Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks told Billboard.com earlier this week. "We put up with it for a quite a while. And frankly, it had reached a point with me where if we had to keep going the way we were going, I was quitting. There was so much tension, so much anger and so much animosity flying around that it just wasn't any fun."
Betts, who was convicted of domestic battery in January, has had a number of arrests and stays in rehabilitation centers in southwest Florida in recent years. Late last month, the artist released a solo album, "Let's Get Together," via Back Alley/FreeFalls Entertainment. Betts is scheduled to perform Saturday at the Pocono Bikers Music Rally in Blakeslee, Pa., according to his official Web site.
Copyright 2001 Billboard.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.
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