Portnoy
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- Joined: 5/18/2002
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BEWARE: MP imposter on the loose again (this is NOT a joke)
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Tuesday, June 27, 2006 12:50 PM
I cannot believe I am writing this again.... But it seems this idiot Anthony Mendez is out of jail and on the loose again. THIS IS NOT A JOKE!! After the ordeal back in 2003, I figured he would've learned his lesson - but apparently not... This is an email that was just passed onto me from a recent encounter: (edited to protect the person who reported the incident) >> This guy came over to my house the other day claiming to be "Mike from
>> Dream Theater".
>>
>> This guy looked like a wreck, (edit) He was clearly on some heavy drugs, I just couldn't believe that
>> it would actually be Mike Portnoy from Dream Theatre!!!
>>
>> You must be thinking this is a joke, but it's not. This guy maintained
>> that he was Mike Portnoy the whole time he was hanging out at my
>> house.
>>
>> I totally would've assumed this guy was lieing, but he KNEW EVERYTHING
>> about the band, tours, album covers and their meanings, etc.
>>
>> Please tell me this guy was an impostor, I'd hate to think that the
>> real Mike Portnoy is a drugged out wreck. (edit)
My family's safety is at hand, not to mention the safety of any victims that come in harm's way of this criminal. (and least of all, my reputation is also at stake to the people that he comes in contact with that don't realize he is NOT me...) If you come in contact with this criminal, please contact my webmaster immediately to pass the info onto me. webmaster@mikeportnoy.com For those of you that have no idea of the backstory with this imposter, I have reprinted below the original info from April 2003... Any help in this matter is truly appreciated, MP --------------------------------------------------------------- Taken from Dreamtheater.net - April 2003: "Someone has been out on the streets and in bars in New York City claiming to be Mike Portnoy. This person apparently knew a lot of Mike's intimate business and family details, and as such, managed to convince a number of people that he was indeed the drummer for DREAM THEATER. Using Mike Portnoy's identity, the imposter managed to steal wallets, credit cards, cell phones, house keys, and whatever else he could get his hands on. Fortunately, the imposter was located and arrested [yesterday] (April 2nd 2003) and is currently in police custody. More than four victims have already come forward in the past 48 hours, which helped lead to his arrest.
"In order to build a solid case against this person, we need for any victims to come forward and report their experiences. If you think you may have come across the Mike Portnoy imposter, please contact the webmaster at webmaster@dreamtheater.net and report any incident that you may know of."
Among the imposter's alleged victims was SAVATAGE guitarist Chris Caffery, who posted the following message on his message board:
"Hello... It is April and snowing. The world hates America and there is a Mike Portnoy imposter running around NYCity...
"You may have noticed that I removed my post about Mike, it was for a good reason.
"Although I have seen band photos and played festivals with DREAM THEATER... I never really knew their faces.
"My friend called me and told me that Mike wanted to say hello. This was last week.
"A few days later in the city I was introduced to who was supposed to be Mike. The guy had the whole bar fooled. Me included. He obviously did a whole bunch of research on Mike and his career and family. He apparently had stolen his wallet and cell phone.
"He had his ID...so who was to know. The guy knew very serious business details and family matters of Mike's. He was even recognized by people as Mike Portnoy when I was with him. He held phone conversations on my phone with supposed mutual friends...
"I got into a room to jam with this guy last week and knew something was up. He was still hammered, but he was not a good drummer. I went on-line to Mike's site and we noticed that although he looked similar he was scrawny and had a space between his teeth that did not exist on Mike's photos. I e-mailed Mike about it. He is aware of this guy and I am going to try to help stop him before he does something to damage Mike personally. By using his name that is. I actually had someone come up to him at the game and say, 'Aren't you the drummer from DREAM THEATER?'
"It is too frickin' weird...
"He was calling drum companies and ordering gear using Mike's name...trying to set up gigs with people and having them send drums to clubs. It seemed weird to me the following day when the guy still had no money on him and was trying to stay at my home again... The whole thing is kinda scary. I am not exactly embarrassed by the situation, I am angered. The guy had a lot of nerve. I am just happy that he did not injure any of my friends or steal anything from me. I think the guns in my room may have made him think twice. Apparently he even got into people's homes using this guise and tried to steal their keys...this was to return later and rob them. Apparently the guy was trying to pick up guys, too… I assure you that he was not doing this in my case, I think I am pretty obvious in my ways, so he was trying to play the party guy to scam into my circles and use my name for is benefit...my friend was trying to get him to fill in on drums for some shows. I think my friend thought me hanging out would be good to help get the guy to play...he thought I was a good name to throw around. I have a message for him if he reads this...Watch your back...
"So...we are dealing with it, trying to find him and stop him before he goes even further.
"I want to apologize to you guys and to Mike and his fans for any misinformation. I also want to ask anyone in NY to be on the look out and try to help identify this piece of shit.
"It was a pretty good act...the ID, the rolex, the drum companies, the phone calls...the guy was pretty convincing. Everyone in the bar was calling him Mike and buying him drinks and talking about his band. He even knew that we played a show together in Sao Paulo...he knew about Wacholz and Jeff... Lesson to be learned here...think before you post, Chris...I had a feeling things were weird, I just followed it up after I let you know." -------------------------------------------------------------- Taken from an article in the New York Post - April 2003: Mike Portnoy, drummer for the rock band DREAM THEATER, might have thought someone was having a little fun with him on April Fool's Day as he drove to Manhattan's 115th Precinct, where he had been told cops were holding a man arrested for impersonating him.
But for about a month, tales of such a troublesome double had been clogging his web site, mikeportnoy.com.
Busting the guy, said Portnoy, "was a scene straight out of 'NYPD Blue'." Portnoy, whose progressive-metal band has been likened to RUSH and YES and is slated to tour with metal band QUEENSRŸCHE this summer, was face to face with 35-year-old Anthony Mendez.
They are the same age and they look vaguely alike — both with long, thick dark hair and full beards. But cops say Mendez ripped off at least two men — one he met in a gay bar and another he met at Finally Fred's in the Meatpacking District — while posing as the musician named Best Progressive Rock Drummer by Modern Drummer magazine eight years in a row.
"He told me he'd just come back from Japan where he'd signed an endorsement deal with a drum manufacturer," said Carlen Langley, who'd never heard of Portnoy when he met impersonator Mendez in February.
"He had a lot of detailed information about Portnoy's life."
After a few drinks, the pair returned to Langley's apartment, where they 'were intimate.'
The next morning, after Mendez left, Langley discovered that his wallet, two cell phones and a set of keys were missing.
When he called his bank, someone had already racked up more than $1,000 in purchases on his credit card. Langley quickly found Portnoy's web site, and e-mailed the real Mike Portnoy that someone was impersonating him.
A few weeks later, at Finally Fred's, Mendez introduced himself as Portnoy to Ray Freeman, a 33-year-old music promoter and singer with the rock band BLOCKK 16.
"I needed a drummer, so I asked him if he'd play with us and was thrilled when he agreed," said Freeman.
Meanwhile, Mendez "drank here all week but never paid his tab" — which amounted to $70 — said Finally Fred's bartender Charles Ruggiero.
When Freeman saw Mendez again at the bar, Mendez said he'd lost his keys and ATM card and couldn't get home. He started sleeping on Freeman's and other BLOCKK 16 band members' couches.
"Mendez told us that his mother was dying of cancer, his wife was divorcing him and that DREAM THEATER had canceled its tour because of the war," said Freeman. "So I kind of felt sorry for him."
On March 28, Mendez arrived to rehearse with Freeman "without his own sticks or any of the charts he said he'd written," said Freeman.
And when he sat down to play, "he sounded worse than my grandmother," said Freeman.
Freeman found Mike Portnoy's web site and saw a posting detailing Langley's experience with Mendez.
"I compared Mendez's tattoos with ones I saw in photos of the real Mike, and they didn't quite match," said Freeman.
He also noticed that his vintage Les Paul guitar, a gold chain and a set of house keys were missing from his apartment.
On April 1, Freeman called the cops. They made a plan for Freeman to pick up Mendez. As the two drove around, the real Portnoy called Freeman on his cell phone — creating the scene Portnoy called "NYPD Blue"-like.
Back at Freeman's Jackson Heights apartment, the cops began questioning Mendez, who told them, "I'm Mike Portnoy."
Mendez was taken to the precinct, where Portnoy was waiting.
Mendez has been charged with criminal impersonation in the second degree and grand larceny in the fourth degree, with bail set at $100,000.
He was unavailable for comment and his attorney declined to comment on the case.
<message edited by Weymolith on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 8:32 PM>
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