DUSTY CARR CHARGES DIONNE WARWICK WITH THEFT

- 'Pop icon Carr says Warwick stole medicinal marijuana and hookah' - Las Vegas, NV, May 13, 2002 (AP) - Dusty Carr, the fabled 'Lounge Lizard King', today said that he had filed charges with local law enforcement officials against Dionne Warwick, claiming the singer stole "a useful quantity of my medicinal dope along with a much-loved hookah." Yesterday, Warwick was arrested at Miami International Airport Sunday for possession of 11 marijuana cigarettes. (see related story here)

Dusty and Dionne: toking twosome

Carr said that Warwick had stolen the marijuana and hookah from his suite at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino on the morning of May 12. Hotel security reported the previous evening that Carr and Warwick were forced to end a two-day drug and alcohol binge. Complaints from hotel guests describing "blood-curdling screams and deep sobbing" had sent guards to Carr's room where they discovered Carr waving a bottle of Southern Comfort, dressed only in dirty, ripped underwear. A hysterical Warwick was found naked in the bathroom, attempting to dig through a wall with a fork, claiming it was her "only way to escape."

Earlier in the day, Carr and Warwick had been photographed together in the suite, smoking marijuana cigarettes. Later, Carr said that the marijuana was "strictly medicinal in nature" and had been prescribed for him by an "Indonesian Pain Clinic". Carr reported that the hookah was "a personal gift from Jerry Garcia who gave it to me backstage at the Fillmore in 1968. I use it only as a decoration."

Yvonne Feldman, a spokesperson for Dionne Warwick, commented, "As if Dionne isn't in enough trouble. Now Dusty Carr is in the picture, and once that happens everything starts to get very dangerous. Plus, Dionne doesn't know anything about a stupid hookah."

Carr and Warwick met in 1966, and since then have performed together numerous times, notably for President Richard Nixon during the 1972 Inauguration Gala. Their 1974 live album, 'Dusty & Dionne: Working Up a Vegas Sweat', is considered a classic of the lounge genre.

Today, Carr told reporters that Warwick "must have smoked a lot of dope on her way to Miami because I'm missing way more than 11 doobies. It's more like 100! Listen, just get me my goddam hookah back!"

Warwick acknowledged that she had "spent a few days" with Carr, but denied any role in the marijuana theft. "When you're around Dusty," Warwick explained, "you start to do things that you'd normally never do. He has a bad effect on people, very corrupting."

Carr said that he might drop charges "if Dionne can get me a brick of good Lebanese hash - strictly for medicinal purposes."

Warwick faces a misdemeanour for marijuana possession. She signed an affidavit promising to appear in court on an unspecified date.

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