Current:Home > FinanceMötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a helicopter -FundCenter
Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a helicopter
View
Date:2025-04-25 22:19:59
Tommy Lee has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman on ötleyCrüa helicopter in 2003.
In a civil complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Dec. 19 and obtained by USA TODAY, a woman identified as Jane Doe accused the Mötley Crüe drummer, 61, of sexually assaulting her during a helicopter ride from San Diego to Van Nuys, California in February 2003.
The woman claims she "was lured under false pretenses by Tommy Lee's personal helicopter pilot, David Martz" to take the ride.
The lawsuit, dated Friday, also names Mayhem Touring, of which Lee was president and owner at the time, and Socal Helicopters, of which Martz was owner at the time, as co-defendants. Martz died in 2015, according to the lawsuit.
USA TODAY has reached out to reps for Lee for comment.
Tommy Lee accused of sexual assault: What the lawsuit alleges
In the filing, the woman alleges she was invited on a private helicopter flight by Martz and was not aware the Methods of Mayhem band member would also be on the helicopter.
According to the woman, she became friendly with Martz through her work as a bank teller in "late 2001 or early 2002." After being offered a private flight in his helicopter, she accepted an invitation, which she took as a "friendly gesture."
The day of the tour, the woman said lunch plans they'd scheduled prior were canceled at the last minute. When she arrived at the hangar where the helicopter was, Lee was there, with Martz explaining "that he needed to take Lee to Van Nuys and that the trip would take no longer than 35 to 40 minutes," she said. He then told the woman to hop in, she claims.
Jane Doe alleges Martz and Lee consumed alcohol, marijuana and cocaine almost immediately after taking flight, with Martz instructing the woman through the helicopter's headphone system to "just relax" when she wasn't drinking.
Martz then asked her to "come up to the cockpit and sit with Lee," she said. When she declined as there wasn't any room, according to the complaint, Lee told her to sit on his lap "so that she would not miss the view."
The woman "felt immense pressure from both Martz and Lee to come to the cockpit," she alleges, so she obliged.
Within a matter of minutes in the cockpit, the woman claims, "Lee began groping and kissing" her. Her attempts to pull away caused Lee to become "more forceful," she said, and at one point, the drummer penetrated the woman "with his fingers while fondling her breasts."
Lee then pulled down his pants and attempted to force the woman's head "toward his genitals," the lawsuit claims. The woman "was in tears, but she had nowhere to go — she was trapped with little mobility to leave the cockpit."
The woman claims that Martz only watched on, smiling. After the helicopter landed at Van Nuys Airport in California, Lee hugged the woman and hopped out of the helicopter. After, the woman traveled back to the airfield in San Diego in silence.
Jane Doe said she had no contact with Martz again until 2009, during a short telephone call. Martz died in an accident in an aircraft accident in August 2015.
The tape, Tommy Lee, kids:All the bombshells from Pamela Anderson’s Netflix doc, memoir
The woman "suffer(ed) great shock, distress, humiliation, shame, and guilt," due to the assault, the suit alleges. It was "those feelings, coupled by the fame of Lee and the climate of the music industry at the time (in which rock-n-roll stars like Lee thrived upon and gained even further celebrity from salacious and hedonistic conduct)" led her to believe nothing would come out of reporting the sexual assault.
She also believed the assault was somehow her fault and "that this was an isolated incident that would not be taken seriously by local police authorities."
But the woman alleges since the 2003 incident she has learned "she likely was not the only victim of Martz and Lee." She claims Martz and Lee, as well as the lawsuit's co-defendants, "engaged in coverups to ensure that such sexual assaults were not made public or disclosed to anyone."
Jane Doe is requesting a jury trial for damages of sexual assault, gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.
Tommy Lee's wifeBrittany Furlan says Heather Locklear was the 'one that got away'
veryGood! (1)
Related
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- These 40 Holiday Gifts From Kardashian-Jenner Brands Will Make You Say You're Doing Amazing, Sweetie
- Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa reveals strategy on long TD passes to blazing fast Tyreek Hill
- Ford, Jeep, and Jaguar among 79,000 vehicles recalled: Check car recalls here
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- Sprawling casino and hotel catering to locals is opening southwest of Las Vegas Strip
- UN warns that 2 boats adrift in the Andaman Sea with 400 Rohingya aboard desperately need rescue
- Two Americans detained in Venezuela ask Biden to secure release as deadline passes
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- More than $980K raised for Palestinian student paralyzed after being shot in Vermont
Ranking
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day: What to know about the attack on Dec. 7, 1941
- MLB Winter Meetings: Live free agency updates, trade rumors, Shohei Ohtani news
- Julia Roberts Reveals the Simple rules She Sets for Her Teenage Kids
- Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
- What we know about CosMc's, McDonald's nostalgic spin-off coming to some cities in 2024
- Supreme Court to hear major case that could upend tax code and doom wealth tax proposals
- US border officials are closing a remote Arizona crossing because of overwhelming migrant arrivals
Recommendation
Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
Supreme Court wrestles with legal shield for Sackler family in Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan
Biden is spending most of the week raising money at events with James Taylor and Steven Spielberg
The fourth GOP debate will be a key moment for the young NewsNation cable network
Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
Venezuela’s government wins vote on claiming part of Guyana, but turnout seems lackluster
4 killed, including a 1-year-old boy, in a shooting at a Dallas home
George Santos is offering personalized videos for $200