Former Georgetown advisory neighborhood commissioner Bill Starrels has been criminally charged after he threatened to kill a man inside a Middle Eastern restaurant, according to court records.
Just after midnight on May 24, an irate Starrels allegedly walked into Charcoal Town Hookah and Shawarma on 31st Street NW and complained about loud noise and talking coming from the restaurant, which is just down the block from his home.
Starrels, 60, made “menacing gestures” toward Beshar Mehiar, the restaurant’s owner, and told him “I’m going to shoot you, your customers, and the Muslims standing outside,” court records say.
Mehiar told police that Starrels had been asked not to return to the restaurant several times “due to his harassing behavior.”
“However, … Starrels continues to walk in and around the restaurant, videotaping customers,” according to court records. He was charged earlier this month with misdemeanor attempted threats and has pleaded not guilty.
Starrels, whose Linkedin page says he is a mortgage loan consultant at Bank of America, served as the ANC for 2E05 for many years before he was defeated in 2016 by Lisa Palmer,who still holds the seat, according to the Georgetown Metropolitan.
A woman who answered the phone at Starrels’ home said the charge is “bogus” but that he was not allowed to talk about it and hung up. A phone call and email sent to the restaurant were not immediately returned.
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