OzSting

Rocker Ozzy Osbourne came out of his drug-induced stupor long enough to criticize a North Dakota Sheriff who used the OzFest concert in Fargo to lure in some scofflaws:

FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- Ozzy Osbourne wants an apology from the Cass County sheriff for staging a sting operation in the rocker's name without his permission.

Osbourne claims his reputation was tarnished when Sheriff Paul Laney invited 500 people with outstanding warrants to a phony party at a Fargo nightclub before the rocker's concert with Rob Zombie at a nearby arena. More than 30 showed up and were arrested.

"Instead of holding a press conference to pat himself on the back, Sheriff Laney should be apologizing to me for using my name in connection with these arrests," Osbourne said in a statement.

"It is insulting to me and to my audience and it shows how lazy this particular sheriff is when it comes to doing his job," Osbourne said.

Laney said Friday that it's his job to arrest people with outstanding warrants.

"We meant no disrespect toward Mr. Osbourne or his show," Laney said. "What we did was a very creative law enforcement technique to lure individuals who had active criminal warrants to come to us."

He said mentioning Osbourne's name in the invitations was no different than a bar advertising a Super Bowl party by mentioning the teams playing in the game.

Very creative, and the sheriff has nothing to apologize for (except maybe the lost business the perps might have brought to OzFest).