Guitarist Arrested for Playing Half-Naked in His Driveway

A rock and roll guitarist was recently arrested for playing music in his driveway while [...]

By Stephen Andrew

A rock and roll guitarist was recently arrested for playing music in his driveway while half-naked. According to Guitar World, Savas Caruso — who goes by the stage moniker Subblet Hammer — was taken into custody some weeks back. Caruso lives in the Salisbury Downs suburb of Salisbury, Adelaide, where he is known to play his guitar in his driveway often. Officers from the South Australia Police had reportedly issued him "an environment protection" order, requiring him to not play his guitar in his driveway for a few days. The order stated that if he violated it, he could be found guilty of a criminal offense.

A clip surfaced online, showing Caruso outside playing his guitar in his underwear in his driveway after he'd been given the order not to do this. Police could be seen unplugging his equipment and then taking the musician away. Caruso was detained and held for three days. However, it is reported that the Magistrate overseeing the case threw it out for being unlawful, as Caruso did not actually commit a crime. Notably, it is not uncommon for Caruso to play guitar in his underwear. It is something that he even does during his live shows.

Following Caruso's arrest, a Change.org petition was started to support him in his legal case. "An innocent member of the community was unlawfully arrested with unnecessary physical force, thrown in a cell and held against his will for 3 days by SAPOL," the petition began. "They treated him like a dangerous criminal. All this for a non-indictable offense; a mere noise complaint."

The petition also states, "How ridiculous is it that a musician is granted this due to noise complaint. The police have no grounds on which to enforce this order therefore had no authority to come onto the man's property while playing his music and disconnect the power followed by the shocking, physical bombardment they call an arrest, of the innocent musician [practicing] his art." One of Caruso's neighbors was quoted as saying, "We look forward to Sunday afternoons cos Sav puts on such a great show & he has inspired my kids to play the guitar."

The petition added, "Shockingly, after Sav was released, they issued another order stating he cannot play live music for another 72 hours, prohibiting him to play on Sunday. Supporters were disappointed as they came to watch their local hero play for his fans." So far, the petition is less than 100 signatures away from reaching its goal.

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