Pink Floyd David Gilmour Impersonator Stiffs Hospital For $100K

A Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour impersonator? Well, there’s only so many middle-aged white guys who can be Elvis impersonators, so why not?

However, one’s man alleged impersonation of David Gilmour landed him in the Stearns County, Minnesota jail.

According to the police, 53-year-old Phillip Michael Schaeffer checked into St. Cloud Hospital in Minnesota on April 20. Having no health insurance, he explained that he was the English guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter from Pink Floyd. Of course, England has its own national health insurance program, so it might be somewhat believable that the star didn’t have health coverage even for a trip to America.

But, just in case, the David Gilmour impersonator also showed that he had a Lloyd’s of London insurance card, just for such traveling emergencies. Apparently, he had an elaborate story worked out about taking a break from a tour in nearby Canada.

While in the hospital, the Pink Floyd wannabe even signed at least one autograph.

Apparently, the star-struck St. Cloud Hospital staff didn’t have a lot of questions for the silver-tongued patient.

However, after he departed the premises — leaving behind an unpaid hospital bill that could soar to as much as $100,000 — they started to wonder.

One of the doctors reportedly questioned the supposed Gilmour’s Minnesota accent.

Now, there’s a lot of older white guys who look like that, but the St. Cloud staff finally got online and looked at enough photos to conclude that there’s no way that the 53-year-old patient and the 67-year-old rocker could be the same man.

Stearns County police officers arrested Schaeffer for the attempted fraud when he returned to the hospital for another treatment. At last report, they were considering what charges to ask the district attorney’s office to file for the attempted swindle.

Me, I’d be a little hurt if I was 14 years younger than a hard-livin’ rocker and even one overworked hospital employee believed the story for even one second.

What’s your thought on the Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour impersonator?

[David Gilmour photo courtesy “Deep Schismic” via Flickr and Wikipedia Commons]