EXCLUSIVE: Rod Stewart, 75, hopes to avoid a trial - and a possible year in jail - by striking a deal after 'punching security guard and making a Nazi salute' while partying at swish Palm Beach resort on New Year's Eve
Rod Stewart expects to avoid a trial for allegedly punching a security guard and making a Nazi salute at a swish Florida resort, a court heard today.
Sir Rod, 75, and his 40-year-old son Sean could face a year in jail and a year of probation if convicted of assaulting Jessie Dixon, 33, at the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach.
But defense attorney Guy Fronstin asked a judge today for a 45-day window to negotiate with prosecutors to avoid the Maggie May singer having to stand trial in the US.
‘All indications are this is going to resolve without a trial but there’s still some work to be done on it,’ Fronstin told Palm Beach County Courthouse over a Zoom call.
Rod Stewart expects to skip trial for allegedly punching a security guard and making a Nazi salute at a swish Florida resort, a court heard today. Sir Rod, 75, and his 40-year-old son Sean (pictured in LA in 2015) could face a year in jail and a year of probation if convicted of assaulting Jessie Dixon, 33, at the Breakers hotel in Palm Beach
The incident was sparked when Stewart and his large party were denied access to the children's area of The Breakers Palm Beach resort in Florida on New Year's Eve
Stewart appears to perform an ironic Nazi salute (pictured left and right) with his right arm extended high above his head while he formed a mustache with his left pointer finger, a la John Cleese in Fawlty Towers
Judge August Bonavita agreed to push the case back until December 4 to allow both sides to strike a deal which would likely see Stewart pay restitution to Dixon (pictured), who has never talked publicly about the late night dust-up
Judge August Bonavita agreed to push the case back until December 4 to allow both sides to strike a deal which would likely see Stewart pay restitution to Dixon, who has never talked publicly about the late night dust-up.
Fronstin didn’t return a call afterwards from DailyMail.com asking for further details on the negotiation.
Sir Rod owns a $30 million beachside mansion near Palm Beach but he and his wife Penny Lancaster, 49, have been isolating at their UK home during the Covid-19 outbreak.
According to a police affidavit, the pop legend flew into a rage and struck Dixon after he and his family were barred from entering a private children’s party on New Year’s Eve.
After the group ‘began to get loud and cause a scene’ Sean Stewart got ‘nose to nose’ with the security guard and allegedly pushed him.
Dixon responded by placing a hand on Sean’s chest but the motion prompted his famous father to thump Dixon in the ribs, the complaint alleges.
Sir Rod told cops that Dixon had been ‘argumentative’ but apologized afterwards.
Two hotel employees witnessed the punch and video footage revealed he and his son were the ‘primary aggressors’, the complaint adds.
The party is stopped at the table by an attendant, the footage shows, but Stewart ignores the staffer and starts strutting around as if he were on a concert stage. He then slips behind the attendant and acts like a gorilla about to grab her. Once she turns around, he just stands with hands in his pockets as if he'd done nothing (pictured)
The footage, obtained and published exclusively by DailyMail.com several weeks after the fight, revealed that Sir Rod performed what appeared to be a mock Nazi salute before thumping Dixon (pictured)
Stewart is seen with fans at the Breakers Hotel on the night the fight went down. Stewart and his 40-year-old son Sean were arrested and charged with simple battery, a misdemeanor that could land them up to a year in jail
The footage, obtained and published exclusively by DailyMail.com several weeks after the fight, revealed that Sir Rod performed what appeared to be a mock Nazi salute before thumping Dixon.
His wife and their two boys, 14-year-old Alastair and Aiden, 8, were standing nearby as the musician, wearing a glittering gold lame jacket, raised his right arm high above his head and placed his left hand above his mouth to imitate a mustache.
The gesture appeared to be a response to Dixon ordering the children to leave a playground area.
‘It's obvious Rod wasn't going to get involved until he felt his son was in danger,' a source in Stewart's camp told DailyMail.com after the footage emerged in February.
'Rod was just trying to defend his boy. No jury in Florida is going to convict him for that.’
If Fronstin, the Stewarts’ high-powered attorney, strikes a deal, however, the simple battery misdemeanor will never come before a jury.
He has represented suspects in high profile cases include the case of John Goodman, a polo club owner who killed a teenager in a DUI crash, Michael Dippolito, the husband of a woman who tried to pay an assassin to kill him but ended up hiring an undercover police officer, and Karyn Turk, a former Mrs. Florida convicted to stealing her dying mother's social security checks.
Fronstin previously called the incident a 'misunderstanding.'
'This is an unfortunate situation,' he said. 'I'm just glad no one was hurt. It was all a big misunderstanding.'
