Former member of punk rock band Cro-Mags Harley Flanagan leaves court on June 12,2012. Criminal charges against Flanagan were dropped but now his former band mates are suing him in civil court. (Riyad Hasan)
Sid Vicious must be rolling in his grave.
Members of a Manhattan hard-core punk band are suing their own founding bass player over a bloody backstage brawl at Webster Hall last summer.
Harley Flanagan, 43, a former frontman for the Cro-Mags, was charged with felony assault and criminal possession of a weapon last July after he allegedly stabbed and bit estranged band mates Michael Couls and William Berardo at the East Village venue.
Now Couls and Berardo are suing Flanagan for the unprovoked attack as well as Webster Hall for failing to provide adequate security at the July 6 CBGB Fest concert.
“The uninvited defendant, Harley Flanagan, gained access to the VIP area “because the hall failed to hire sufficiently trained security personal to protect the plaintiffs,” the Manhattan Supreme Court suit alleges.
Flanagan allegedly slashed Berardo in the left eye with a 5-inch hunting knife and chomped down on Couls’ arm.
But Flanagan didn’t escape the brouhaha unscathed — he received stitches on his left leg for a deep gash. The aging punk rocker claims he was jumped backstage and subjected to “an old fashion biker beat down.”
Cro-Mags co-founder John “Bloodclot” Joseph told The Post last year that Flanagan’s outburst was the result of a long-standing internal feud among band members, who claim Flanagan pocketed tens of thousands of dollars from a European tour.
The berserk bassist reportedly growled, “They think they’re going to play my f—king music that I helped write,” before lashing out at Berarado and Couls.
The duo was treated at Bellevue Hospital for their injuries.
They want unspecified damages.
Reached on his cell phone, Flanagan yesterday asked, “According to who?” when told that he was being sued. He then hung up.
Webster Hall and the festival organizers did not immediately return calls for comment.