Man kicked out of restaurant came back swinging lawnmower blade, NC police say

A lawnmower blade was used as a weapon when a restaurant customer took offense at being asked to leave the premises, according to investigators in western North Carolina.

The incident happened April 26 at Chevelles Restaurant & Bar in downtown Murphy, after 45-year-old Gabriel Lowman was cut off for the night, Murphy Police Chief Tim Lominac told WJRB.

Instead of leaving, Lowman went to the parking lot and retrieved “a lawnmower blade fabricated into a machete,” and forced his way back into the restaurant, court documents report.

He then kicked down the owner’s office door, and began “brandishing” the lawnmower blade to “terrorize” her, officials said.

Court documents do not report the owner was hit by the blade.

Lowman has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, felony breaking and entering to terrorize/injure, second degree trespassing, injury to real property (the office door) and disorderly conduct, a warrant states.

A bond of $15,000 was initially set in the case, but it was revoked, records show.

Murphy is about a 225-mile drive west from uptown Charlotte.