VINNIE VINCENT: More Arrest Details Revealed; Mug Shot Available

May 23, 2011

TMZ.com has released more details about former KISS guitarist Vinnie Vincent's (real name Vincent John Cusano) arrest in Tennessee over the weekend on suspicion of assault.

Cusano, 58, was charged with one count of aggravated assault on Saturday after his wife Diane accused him of hitting her in the face, throwing her to the ground, and dragging her through broken glass following an argument.

According to an incident report by Rutherford County Sheriff's Department, when 44-year-old Diane arrived at the police department to report the alleged attack, she was "covered in blood and appeared to be intoxicated because of the strong odor of an intoxicant about her person."

Diane Cusano told the officers there that she had just escaped from the couple's home after being assaulted by the guitarist after arguing with him about a "female subject [Vincent] had been talking to." Diane also told the cops that she tried to get away, but that Vincent threw her to the ground four more times. The Sheriff's Office then dispatched officers to the home where they found the ex-KISS guitarist and "four sealed containers containing deceased dogs." Diane told the cops that the dogs had been "killed by one of their aggressive dogs."

Vincent was taken into custody and booked into the Rutherford County Detention Center around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night and was released Sunday after posting $10,000 bond. He is due to appear in court on June 23.

Diane Cusano was taken to Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro, where she was treated for gashes all over her body, a bloodied nose and badly bruised forehead. She has since been released.

Vincent replaced lead guitarist Ace Frehley in 1982 and played with KISS for two years. He left the group on bad terms, and later claimed KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley owed him royalties for his work on KISS' 1983 album "Lick It Up", according to the Courthouse News Service. However, a federal judge in Los Angeles ruled against him and awarded the KISS defendants about $66,400 in attorney's fees and $15,400 in costs.

Last June, Vincent lost his 6th Circuit appeal of an order barring him from seeking bankruptcy protection from paying more than $81,000 to his former bandmates.

In January, Vincent, in association with Guitarmageddon Guitars, unveiled the official Vinnie Vincent model guitar at the NAMM convention.

(Thanks: Fullshred)

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