Ladies frontman Page told police substance was cocaine: court documents
Last Updated: Thursday, July 17, 2008 | 5:36 PM ET
CBC News
Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies is shown in this police handout photo. (Manlius Police Department/Canadian Press)Barenaked Ladies lead singer Steven Page is alleged to have used a Canadian bill to snort cocaine just before he was arrested in New York last week, according to court documents.
A woman arrested along with Page, Stephanie Ford, told police in a statement that he had capsules containing powder in a bottle labelled calcium and that they were snorting it together in her apartment.
"We never discussed what the white powder was but I thought it was cocaine…," Ford wrote in her statement.
"A police officer knocked on the door and Steven and I invited him in."
Ford's statement said she and Page snorted the cocaine after an argument between Page and Christine Benedicto, whom Ford identified as her roommate and Page's girlfriend.
In a separate court document, Page is alleged to have admitted the substance was cocaine after a police officer entered the apartment and questioned whether the substance was really calcium because it was testing positive for cocaine.
Page was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance. He is alleged to have been in possession of about 10 grams of cocaine.
Barenaked Ladies fan Colin Fallowfield said that if the allegations turn out to be true, he expects fans like him will want to hear an apology from Page.
"I'm personally of the opinion that celebrities … too much of their private life enters the public eye," he told CBC on Thursday. "By the same token, Steven Page needs to realize he is a role model. He is a musician. He is someone people look up to. More importantly, he has a lot of very young fans."
Page is due to appear in a New York court next month, just days after a scheduled children's concert.
With files by the Canadian Press
