Police charge Holly Springs man in assault at LGBT bar

A Wake County man was charged Sunday with assault after, police and witnesses said, he entered an an LGBT bar, angrily criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage and then slapped the owner.

Lucas Dylan Wilhelmson, 21, of Holly Springs, was charged with simple assault and with communicating threats in the alleged attack early Sunday, according to Mecklenburg jail records. He was released after posting $3,000 bail.

The incident happened Sunday morning just before closing time at The Bar at 316, near South and East boulevards, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police spokesman Rob Tufano.

The bar, which advertises itself as LGBT-friendly, has been open in Dilworth under several names since 1989, according to the newspaper QNotes, the Observer’s news partner.

Tufano said a man later identified as Wilhelmson walked into the bar and started “calling out people using derogatory terms.”

QNotes reported that a witness said Wilhelmson was angry about Friday’s Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage across the United States.

The bar’s owner asked the man to leave and escorted him to the front door, Tufano said. Noticing that the man was drunk, the owner offered to call a taxi for the man.

“He slaps the owner several times,” Tufano said. “He continued to slap him. The owner never hits him back, according to witnesses.”

Police were called, and Wilhelmson was arrested. He was booked into jail about a half-hour later.

Tufano said additional additional charges could be pending against Wilhelmson, but he said he didn’t know whether the incident would be investigated as a hate crime.

This story was originally published June 28, 2015 at 8:09 PM with the headline "Police charge Holly Springs man in assault at LGBT bar."