Splash Onto Me

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Aug 25, 2004 3:24PM

While their bus drivers vehemently denied that had anything to do with the incident at the time, on Tuesday Illinois Atty. General Lisa Madigan announced that a civil complaint was filed against the Dave Matthews Band Inc. and Stefan A. Wohl, the driver of the bus. Accused of polluting the river by illegally dumping "liquid waste'' from the septic tank of the bus, the band could face $60,000 in fines related to the incident. In addition to polluting the river, more than 100 passengers on an architectural tour boat were showered with waste.

As part of a two week investigation, "Surveillance cameras at neighborhood businesses helped Madigan's investigators and Chicago police detectives trace the bus to [Stefan] Whol, a Texas man who is identified in the complaint as one of five drivers for the Dave Matthews Band."

In the days after the incident, another driver for the band, Jerry Fitzpatrick, denied responsibility for the incident. Stating that his bus had been parked at the band's hotel at the time, he even coaxed a Downstate police officer to inspect the bus and report that the waste tank was nearly full. Guess we now know why Wohl made no similar gesture!