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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007) Thomas Delmer "Artimus" Pyle (born July 15, 1948 in Louisville, Kentucky)[1] is an American musician best known for playing drums with Career Early career Pyle joined Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1974.[1] He survived the 1977 plane crash that killed Ronnie Van Zant, Cassie Gaines and Steve Gaines.[4] [2] Pyle emerged from the aircraft wreckage with several broken ribs and joined others traveling several hundred yards on foot to a farmhouse to try to get help.[4] The appearance of Pyle and his companions alarmed the residents of the farmhouse, who greeted them with guns and demanded they leave the premises. Eventually the Gillsburg Volunteer Fire Department arrived and assured the occupants that the men were survivors of a plane-crash.[4] Varying accounts have the farmer's son either firing a warning shot into the air or actually shooting Pyle in the shoulder with an air rifle.[5] Pyle has been almost universally praised for his heroism in the aftermath of the plane crash; it is believed that if not for his actions in quickly bringing help, many of the other injured people might have died as well.[citation needed] After the crash In 1982 Pyle began touring with the Artimus Pyle Band, A.P.B.,[6] Pyle took part in the Skynyrd Tribute Tour and joined the reformed Lynyrd Skynyrd in recording Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 before departing the band during a show in Toronto in August of 1991.[8] Pyle currently plays solo and with various musicians, including previous members of Lynryd Skynyrd and Lynyrd Skynryd tribute bands.[9] In 2007, Pyle released a solo album, Artimus Venomus, on Cleopatra Records.[7] Pyle, in 2007, was touring with the band Deep South. Criminal conviction In 1993, Pyle was arrested and charged in Jacksonville Beach, Florida with sexual battery against two girls, ages four and eight.[10] Facing a potential life sentence, Pyle arranged a plea bargain with prosecutors to spare the children a trial.[11] He received eight years of probation,[12] and he was entered into the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's "Sexual Offender" database.[13] On November 19, 2007, Pyle was arrested in St. Johns County, Florida for failure to register as a sex offender.[14] He was re-arrested on November 27, 2007 on the same charge.[15] References ^ a b Lynyrd Skynyrd Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Accessed September 24, 2007. ^ a b Vrabel, Jeff. (November 29, 2005. Rock the Hall The Florida | ||||
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