On 21. May, 1983, Ace Frehley was arrested following a chase up the Bronx River Parkway with his 1981 DeLorean at speeds up to 90 mph. Ace would be charged with drunk and reckless driving; and leaving the scene of an accident after hitting 4 cars during the incident (without any injuries). The “incident began when a police officer asked Frehley to pull over after a minor traffic accident Saturday afternoon, and Frehley sped off, authorities said”.
Ace Frehley:
“There were consequences to the DeLorean incident. My license was revoked, I had to pay a large fine, and I received a bunch of negative publicity that made international headlines. In a way, I was fortunate. Had this been twenty-five years later, the fallout would have been much worse: mug shot on TMZ.com, video clips of my courtroom appearance on CNN, and cell phone footage of the car chase drawing millions of hits on YouTube. The worst sort of notoriety: a celebrity falling hard. Not to mention the harsh legal ramifications that would have come down on me. The other consequence was a court-ordered two-week stint in a hospital detox unit, and some mandatory AA meetings.”
– “No Regrets” by Ace Frehley.
Loudwire “Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?”:
– Your solo song, Rock Soldiers, is an autobiographical song written partially about a car accident you had in April 1982.
– Well, it wasn’t a car accident. It was a car chase. I was pulled over in my DeLorean, and I was with a friend of mine. A DeLorean. And I was driving with a suspended license, and I didn’t have my registration. And my friend was in the car, and a cop pulled us over because I bumped into a guy’s car that was worth about $250. And he got out, and he saw my car, and he figured maybe he could get some money out of me. And I said, what are you, out of your mind? Anyway, some cop saw us arguing. He walks over, and he goes, license and registration. I said, okay, no problem. I get in the car. I pull down the gullwing door, and I told my friend, get out of the car because I’m taking off. So he got out of the car, and I just slammed it. And for 10, 15 minutes, the White Plains police were chasing me all around White Plains, and I eluded them.
– You got away from them.
– Yeah, I got away from them. I pulled over at a deli to make a phone call to have my friend come (6:05) and pick me up. And the guy that owned the deli looked out at the car, and there was smoke rising from everywhere, and there was dents all over. And I seemed a little crazy because I was. And he called the cops. And I’m waiting for my friend to show up. I’m in the phone booth. When I walk out, you know, there’s like 15 cops with their guns drawn. And they arrested me, handcuffed me, and took me away.
– How did they get that so wrong?
– It’s in my book. Read it. No regrets.
– Oh, my God. You essentially escaped the police in a car chase in a DeLorean.
– I was going like 80 miles an hour against traffic on the blocks of the parkway. And, you know, I hit fifth gear, and I was gone. Yeah, the cop Chevy Nova couldn’t keep up with me. (6:58) That’s amazing.
On 21. May, 1983, Ace Frehley was arrested following a chase up the Bronx River Parkway with his 1981 DeLorean at speeds up to 90 mph. Ace would be charged with drunk and reckless driving; and leaving the scene of an accident after hitting 4 cars during the incident (without any injuries). The “incident began when a police officer asked Frehley to pull over after a minor traffic accident Saturday afternoon, and Frehley sped off, authorities said”.
Ace Frehley:
“There were consequences to the DeLorean incident. My license was revoked, I had to pay a large fine, and I received a bunch of negative publicity that made international headlines. In a way, I was fortunate. Had this been twenty-five years later, the fallout would have been much worse: mug shot on TMZ.com, video clips of my courtroom appearance on CNN, and cell phone footage of the car chase drawing millions of hits on YouTube. The worst sort of notoriety: a celebrity falling hard. Not to mention the harsh legal ramifications that would have come down on me. The other consequence was a court-ordered two-week stint in a hospital detox unit, and some mandatory AA meetings.”
– “No Regrets” by Ace Frehley.
Loudwire “Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?”:
– Your solo song, Rock Soldiers, is an autobiographical song written partially about a car accident you had in April 1982.
– Well, it wasn’t a car accident. It was a car chase. I was pulled over in my DeLorean, and I was with a friend of mine. A DeLorean. And I was driving with a suspended license, and I didn’t have my registration. And my friend was in the car, and a cop pulled us over because I bumped into a guy’s car that was worth about $250. And he got out, and he saw my car, and he figured maybe he could get some money out of me. And I said, what are you, out of your mind? Anyway, some cop saw us arguing. He walks over, and he goes, license and registration. I said, okay, no problem. I get in the car. I pull down the gullwing door, and I told my friend, get out of the car because I’m taking off. So he got out of the car, and I just slammed it. And for 10, 15 minutes, the White Plains police were chasing me all around White Plains, and I eluded them.
– You got away from them.
– Yeah, I got away from them. I pulled over at a deli to make a phone call to have my friend come (6:05) and pick me up. And the guy that owned the deli looked out at the car, and there was smoke rising from everywhere, and there was dents all over. And I seemed a little crazy because I was. And he called the cops. And I’m waiting for my friend to show up. I’m in the phone booth. When I walk out, you know, there’s like 15 cops with their guns drawn. And they arrested me, handcuffed me, and took me away.
– How did they get that so wrong?
– It’s in my book. Read it. No regrets.
– Oh, my God. You essentially escaped the police in a car chase in a DeLorean.
– I was going like 80 miles an hour against traffic on the blocks of the parkway. And, you know, I hit fifth gear, and I was gone. Yeah, the cop Chevy Nova couldn’t keep up with me. (6:58) That’s amazing.