Former KISS Guitarist Vinnie Vincent Arrested For Suspected Assault, Possible Animal Cruelty

Vinnie Vincent, former guitarist for Kiss, was arrested by police on charges of aggravated domestic assault, but according to TMZ, will not face animal cruelty charges related to the discovery of four dead dogs at his house.

According to TMZ's report, Vincent, whose real name is Vincent Cusano, allegedly smacked his wife in the face on Saturday and dragged her through broken glass on the night that he was arrested.  Rutherford County officials said that Vincent's wife Diane arrived at the police station "covered in blood" and smelling like alcohol.  Allegedly, Vincent threw his wife on the ground five times following an argument about another woman, before Diane eventually escaped and went to the police for help.

When police arrived at the residence, they found Vincent and four containers containing deceased dogs. Vincent was arrested and an animal service team was brought in to investigate the dog situation. The guitarist posted a $10,000 bond and was released.

Eventually it was determined that Vincent would not face charges regarding the dog corpses, because they were all kept in plastic storage bins clearly marked as graves. While that's kind of weird, it's not illegal.  According to Vincent's wife, the dogs were killed by one of the family's other nine dogs.  The PAWS organization responsible for the animal cruelty investigation will test all of the living animals for rabies.

Vincent, who briefly appeared with Kiss in makeup as an Egyptian warrior when he became original lead guitarist Ace Frehley's first replacement, made his only recorded appearance on the band's 1983 album 'Lick It Up.'

He then formed a solo band, the Vinnie Vincent Invasion, but after a couple of poorly received albums his band all quit, got a new leader and became Slaughter, who had several hits including 'Fly to the Angels.'

Vincent later co-wrote some songs for, but didn't play on, Kiss's excellent 1992 album 'Revenge,' but otherwise seemingly vanished in the late '90s. A series of planned projects, including a retrospective box set, either fizzled out or never came to fruition.

Watch WKRN's News Report on Vinnie Vincent's Arrest