Metal Singer, 62, Arrested for Alleged Cocaine Possession and DUI

Jon Oliva, the 62-year-old singer of the metal band Savatage and a member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, was recently arrested for alleged cocaine possession and DUI. According to Loudwire, Oliva was booked into the Pasco County Jail early in the morning on Sept. 30. He was later released sometime in the early hours of Oct. 1. Per an arrest report from the Florida Highway Patrol, first responders were dispatched to a single-vehicle just before 1 a.m. local time on Thursday. 

In their report, one of the responding officers wrote, “When I arrived on the scene, the driver of the vehicle was out and away from his pickup truck being checked by EMS. I observed a pickup truck with severe damage to the front right of the vehicle. The passenger side door had been ripped off the collision with the tree that the vehicle had struck. Mr. Oliva was the driver of the vehicle. On scene, Mr. Oliva fainted and hit the ground while EMS was checking on him. Due to this reason, Mr. Oliva was flown off the scene and taken to [the hospital].”

The report indicated that officers found two empty bottles of vodka and a small clear bag with an unknown white substance inside the vehicle. The substance was field tested and came back as positive for cocaine. Witnesses were questioned at the scene, and Oliva was questioned at the hospital, after being treated for what seemed to be non-life-threatening injuries.

Sharing a little more of the arrest report, Blabbermouth published the following excerpt written by the officer: “The nurses at hospital listened as Mr. Oliva yelled at his wife on the phone about the cocaine being in his car. I then asked Mr. Oliva if he would be willing to sign a form that would allow me to have access to his medical blood records to see his blood alcohol content. I told Mr. Oliva that this is 100% voluntary. Mr. Oliva told me that he had no problem with signing over his medical records. Mr. Oliva had a blood alcohol content of .138 G/210L.”

Loudwire reports that Oliva was given a $10,000 bond for one felony count of cocaine possession. He was also given a second bond, for $3,500, stemming from a misdemeanor DUI charge. The outlet noted that, in the state of Florida, cocaine possession is a third-degree felony. It is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, and a maximum prison sentence of five years.