A Canadian rock legend and member of the Order of Canada was subdued by a police stun gun during a New Year's Eve brawl in a posh Florida resort.

Alex Lifeson, 50, of the band Rush, was released yesterday after what deputies describe as a violent encounter at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Naples on south Florida's Gulf Coast.

Lifeson's son Justin Zivojinovich and his daughter-in-law Michelle were also arrested and later released. (Lifeson's real surname is Zivojinovich.)

According to police reports, Lifeson pushed a female deputy down a set of stairs and spit blood on a deputy's face, which Lifeson's son denies.

"We're going to get back to everybody and tell our side of the story," Justin Zivojinovich said yesterday.

"Because of course, what you're reading makes us look like complete villains."

Zivojinovich, 33, told the Naples Daily News on Thursday evening that deputies broke his father's nose and assaulted him again when he was spitting blood as it flowed from his nose.

The trouble reportedly started when Zivojinovich got up on stage where the house band was performing.

"I was singing Happy New Year's, that's all I was doing, singing to the whole crowd. That's all I said, `Happy New Year,'" Zivojinovich said in the interview. "Everyone was enjoying themselves. That's when someone apparently started yelling for one of the security guards. There was no violence on our part.

"I was ready to leave. I was asked to leave and I said, `Okay, I'm going to go. I'll grab my wife and be out of there.' They didn't want that. They didn't want me to leave on a high note. They felt they would lose. They decided to aggravate me. They stunned me, as well as my father, with a stun gun."

Police said Zivojinovich became verbally abusive to security guards who were asking him to get off stage, and that's when Lifeson came to the defence of his son.

In his report, Collier County Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Knott said that he told Zivojinovich that he would escort him to the hotel's property line and issue him a trespass warning barring him from returning to the Ritz-Carlton property.

"Justin stated that was fine. When Justin and I walked back into the ballroom to retrieve his property, he threw his hat and started screaming obscenities," Knott's report states. "A second male identified as Justin's father (Lifeson) approached us and stated that his son wasn't going anywhere."

Knott said he told Lifeson that he would be arrested for obstruction of justice if he didn't move away from them.

"Alex stated, `Take me to jail, I don't care, it's (expletive) New Year's Eve,'" Knott's report stated. He added that Lifeson then put his hands on his son's chest and began pushing him away from where the deputy was taking him.

"Justin began to struggle and resist. I placed Justin in an arm bar and began escorting him away with the assistance of Corporal Amy Stanford to avoid any further disturbance. Corporal Scott Russell was trying to keep Alex and several other members in their party away from us, with little success. As I looked over my right shoulder, I could see Corporal Russell struggling with several people to include Alex and Justin's wife, Michelle."

Knott's report goes on to say that Zivojinovich struggled and swung his right elbow at Stanford's face when deputies entered the service stairwell.

Knott said he felt Lifeson pushing into him as he forced Zivojinovich to the ground.

"As the situation began to escalate with several people filling the stairwell, I removed my Taser (stun gun) and warned Alex to keep away. I turned to assist in handcuffing Justin and he began to thrash his body. I warned deputies of my intention to tase the wildly combative Justin."

Knott's report states that after the stun gun was used on Zivojinovich, Lifeson was screaming obscenities and being extremely violent. Knott says Lifeson ripped the police radio off his uniform, "depriving me of calling for backup units."

Knott states that when Stanford tried to pull Lifeson away from him he grabbed her and shoved her down the steps, forcing her to fall on her back.

Zivojinovich said that Stanford fell down the stairs as she was pushing his father down the stairwell.

The details of the police report were reported in the Naples Daily News.

Lifeson is charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence and disorderly intoxication.

The picture of a rock 'n' roll terror hardly blends with the celebrated guitarist's reputation as a gentle, friendly homebody.

"He is a fabulous father," said long-time friend Tim Notter, who owns the Orbit Room on College St. with Lifeson. "He's nothing but a consummate gentleman."

"I've known the guy for 30 years," he added. "He has been backstage, had rock shows with the police and with crowds and with security. He owns his own nightclub. He knows how to behave. He knows how to deal with the police. He's been doing it for years.

"These aren't some idiots."

Rush, comprising singer Geddy Lee, drummer Neil Peart and Lifeson, are icons to millions of fans who grew up listening to their platinum-selling albums, and even formed lines outside the Naples police department to show support for Lifeson yesterday.

The Toronto band followed its debut LP in 1974 with 21 more albums, eventually selling more than 35 million copies worldwide.

Over the last three decades, they garnered eight Juno Awards, three Grammy nominations and a place in the Juno Awards Hall of Fame in 1994.

In 1990, they were named Canadian Artists of the Decade and, in 1992, they received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Musicians Institute in Hollywood.

The accolades culminated in 1997 with the Order of Canada. Most recently, when Toronto was suffering under the shadow of SARS, Rush was among the headlining acts for a benefit concert, drawing half a million people to Downsview Park.

Up until now, that long, storied public life has never been tarnished by scandal.

"I'm shocked that this has happened," Notter said. "I'm really, really worried for him, too."