A former D.C. neighborhood commissioner is accused of threatening to shoot up a Middle Eastern restaurant in Georgetown and the "Muslims standing outside."
Former Georgetown Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Bill Starrels, 60, pleaded not guilty this month to attempted threats to do bodily harm.
Court records say Starrels entered Charcoal Town Hookah and Shawarma, on 31st Street NW, after midnight on May 24 and complained about the noise coming from it. He walked around the restaurant videotaping customers, the records say.
The business's owner and two employees told police that Starrels then threatened to shoot them.
"I am going to shoot you, your customers and the Muslims standing outside," the owner told police that Starrels said.
The owner says he previously had asked Starrels to not return to the restaurant because of his "harassing" behavior.
Starrels was the neighborhood commissioner — an elected position — from 2000 through 2017, when he lost an election. His attorney, Joseph Gonzalez, did not immediately return a request for comment.
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Starrels was ordered to stay away from the restaurant. He's due in court next month.
