The document was completed on May 3, 1969, after Hendrix was detained in Toronto’s Pearson International Airport as a result of small quantities of heroin and hash being found in his luggage. In the ensuing trial, where he faced up to 20 years in jail for each charge, he was found not guilty after having argued that he had no knowledge of the drugs having been placed in his bags.
Bobby Livingston, executive vice president of RR Auction, said the accompanying mug shot of Hendrix sold for $14,000 in 2006. He expects the arrest card to go for about the same.
The document includes details about Hendrix, including his full name (James Marshall Hendrix), date of birth, New York address and a noted feature of “scar on right eye.” All 10 of his fingerprints are visible on the card and his signature is seen in the top left corner.
Jimi, he never would have become a musician without drugs. Before he was a star, Hendrix was in the military. He got kicked out, though, partly because of drugs—his commanding officer caught him in the latrine, smoking pot and masturbating on duty.
After living the army, Hendrix became a rock star, and his drug addictions got bigger. At one point, in the late 1960s, that drug problem got him kidnapped. He was walking down the streets looking for dope and met a group of boys who promised they had some at their house. Hendrix went with them, but when he got there they locked them in a room and called his manager demanding ransom money.
Hendrix’s manager, though, sent a mob enforced named Joe Roberts after them anyway. Roberts scared the kids into letting Hendrix go and then gave them, in his words, “a beating they would never forget.”
RELATED Rock Wild Drug Stories 5: Jimi Hendrix
On Jan. 3, 1968, the Jimi Hendrix Experience landed in Gothenburg for a quick four-date tour of Sweden and Denmark
