INCIDENT REPORT
NAME: Jim Morrison
LOCATION: New Haven, Connecticut
ARREST: December 9, 1967
CHARGE: Breach of peace; resisting arrest; immoral exhibition
It was Jim
Morrison's twenty-fourth birthday. His band, The Doors, was playing at Troy, New York's Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's field house. The audience was underwhelmed by these satyrlike upstarts from California.
The band was touring to promote two hit records that had been released earlier that year, and yet hadn't even earned an encore in Troy. Disappointed and depressed, the band piled into a limousine and drove the four-hour trip to New Haven, Connecticut. Rumors about The Doors's penchant for
trouble-and the lustful interest of their young female fans-made the police want to keep the band as far away from the general population as possible.
On a routine preconcert check, a police officer found a couple engaged in amorous activity in a shower stall. When he told the couple to leave, the male-Mr. Morrison-became belligerent. The altercation ended when the police officer sprayed the young man with mace. Screaming in pain, Mr. Morrison ran into the dressing room. The police were now hot on
his trail. As the officers
entered the dressing room, they were met by the band's manager, Bill Siddons, who pleaded with them not to take the singer into custody. The police assented and soon the recovered Jim Morrison and The Doors took the stage to an enthusiastic reception. On stage, The Doors thrilled the crowd to a legendary performance. While performing their song "Back Door Man," the last number of the evening, Mr. Morrison began to tell the audience about
what had happened backstage, using a
mocking, Southern drawl. As he spoke, the audience began to get loud and restless. As he ended the story he began screaming, "The whole world hates me, the whole world fucking hates me!" He then returned to the song as if he had never stopped singing.
Police then turned on the auditorium lights, rushed the stage, and arrested Mr. Morrison. The band stopped playing, and Mr. Morrison was dragged off the stage. The police informed the audience that the show was over. Fearing a riot, police began
arresting people. Many of those arrested were members of the press. At the Court Street station, Mr. Morrison was booked for
"breach of peace, resisting arrest, and immoral exhibition," and later released on a $1,500 bail bond. A few weeks later most of the charges were dropped. Mr. Morrison was fined $25 for breach of peace, but the district attorney's office decided not to pursue the other two charges.
 
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