Castronovo begged police for help

Journey drummer Deen Castronovo begged police officers for help and threatened to take his own life ahead of his arrest last month.

And lawyers for the 50-year-old have told a court he was high on methamphetamine when he was detained.

Castronovo was arrested on June 14 in Oregon on charges related to domestic violence and then released. It can now be revealed that Castronovo’s attorney, Jeffery Jones, said he was first taken to Salem Hospital because of his condition.

He was arrested again on June 29 over 16 charges including one of first-degree rape. At the hearing connected with that arrest, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Gardiner played two voicemails, recorded before the earlier arrest.

In the first, Castronovo is heard saying: “I’m sorry. You should call me. On Friday you will be forcibly removed from my house. My life is ruined. You didn’t have to call the cops. I’ve suffered and now you’re going to suffer. I love you.”

A second voicemail is directed at police officers, in which the drummer says: “I don’t care any more. I’m going to kill myself. Give me some help. You think this is a joke? I’m sick and I need help.”

He’s being held at Marion County Correctional Facility and will appear in court again soon to enter a plea. Journey have recruited Omar Hakim to play in his place.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.