{"id":20090,"date":"2017-01-23T05:02:48","date_gmt":"2017-01-23T05:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=20090"},"modified":"2017-01-23T05:02:48","modified_gmt":"2017-01-23T05:02:48","slug":"40-years-later-woman-arrested-with-david-bowie-in-1976-breaks-silence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/40-years-later-woman-arrested-with-david-bowie-in-1976-breaks-silence.html","title":{"rendered":"40 years later, woman arrested with David Bowie in 1976 breaks silence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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40 years later, woman arrested with David Bowie in 1976 breaks silence<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

40 years later, woman arrested with David Bowie in 1976 breaks silence:-<\/strong> When Matt Ehlers walked in for his first haircut at Chi Wah Organica three years ago, he hoped for more than a sharp trim. Ehlers had begun making the documentary Bowie Goes to Jail, about the infamous 1976 arrest of David Bowie in Rochester, and wanted to speak to someone who knew what went down in the corner suite at the Americana Rochester.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chi Wah Soo, the 61-year-old Brighton salon owner, was 20 when arrested and jailed for possession of marijuana with the musician after his concert. At first, people accused her of being the \u201cnarc\u201d that blew Bowie into the cops.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has the wrong idea of what happened,\u201d Soo told a Rochester reporter days after the arrest. \u201cThey can think what they wish, but I know I\u2019m innocent.\u201d The Times in London also contacted Soo, but she declined comment per her lawyer\u2019s advice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Iman posts image of a rainbow in tribute to David Bowie<\/span>
\n Silence followed. Almost 40 years. She regularly shrugged off shock jocks pestering her for lurid details on the anniversaries of the arrest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then came Ehlers, a 46-year-old Rochester filmmaker, who said it took a year and a half of haircuts before Soo trusted him enough to tell her story for the documentary he plans to complete in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

Soo\u2019s effervescent personality sparkles in the rough cut Ehlers screened at the Little Theatre last year. Her vivid memories make it feel as though Bowie\u2019s first \u2014 and last \u2014 Rochester concert happened last night.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a rock star,\u201d said Ehlers, whose short films have appeared at Sundance. \u201cThe interview lasted more than two hours.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Born in China, Soo moved from Hong Kong to Rochester with her parents and sister when she was 11. As she worked at her father\u2019s restaurant every day after school until 11 p.m., Soo used lyrics from her favorite music to help learn English. After attending Monroe Community College, she was a Kodak employee when Bowie came to town.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was not going to miss it,\u201d Soo said.<\/span><\/p>\n

She and her friends made sure to get near the stage. Toward the end of the concert, her long black hair tangled among other fans. Perhaps this drew Bowie\u2019s attention, because he leaned over and handed Soo a bracelet that had landed on stage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI felt bad,\u201d Soo said about the woman who gave the bracelet to Bowie. \u201cBut I wasn\u2019t going to give it back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Before she left the show a man gave her a note saying, \u201cMeet me at my party. David.\u201d When Bowie entered the party, Soo said he seemed to have a \u201chalo around his head.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHello, love,\u201d were his first words to her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Later, they retreated to his corner suite at the Americana on State Street (now the Holiday Inn Rochester Downtown) with rocker Iggy Pop and Bowie\u2019s bodyguard. Two other women joined them \u2014 undercover police.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ehlers\u2019 documentary says police acted on a tip that Bowie had cocaine, and secured the adjacent hotel room. Using stethoscopes to eavesdrop through the wall (yes, stethoscopes), police heard something unexpected. Bowie received a phone call saying his young son was very sick and his wife, Angela, could not be found.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI slowly watched a gentle meltdown of David Bowie,\u201d Soo said.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Bowie made frantic calls, she used a phonebook to identify the original call as a Florida area code. When Soo told Bowie, he instantly realized a couple of girls from Florida were the perpetrators of a cruel prank.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bowie\u2019s entourage had marijuana but they didn\u2019t have cocaine. Undercover police officer Deborah Kilborn said they only asked her where they could score some. Nevertheless, police had enough evidence to raid. Soo saw three faces peer into the room when Bowie cracked open the door. It slammed him in the face and knocked him backward.<\/span><\/p>\n

Charges against Soo, Bowie, Pop and Bowie\u2019s bodyguard were eventually dropped, but their reputations had been tarnished. Ehlers considers the arrest a \u201cwake-up call\u201d in a drug-addled chapter of Bowie\u2019s life.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the arraignment, Soo gave Bowie her traditional Chinese wedding blanket. Although Soo cannot be sure the song China Girl was written about her, she does believe her blanket appears in the music video. Soo and Bowie never spoke again. While his career rocketed back toward Mars, she tried to fade into the background of what has become Rochester \u201crocklore.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt has to be one of the best parties in Rochester history,\u201d Ehlers said before laughing about Bowie and Pop doing a shot of Courvoisier right before police escorted them to jail.<\/span><\/p>\n

Almost 41 years later, Ehlers\u2019 quest to tell the full story has brought him to a family business. Like Soo did at her father\u2019s restaurant, her children work at the salon she opened in 1993.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/life\/music\/2017\/01\/22\/40-years-later-woman-arrested-david-bowie-1976-breaks-silence\/96927238\/<\/span><\/div>\n

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