CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The owner of a popular coffee shop in Charlotte's Noda neighborhood is pushing for charges after she says a man with a knife threatened her and a worker.
"He thrust at me, and the knife didn't hit me, but his hand hit me," said Cathy Tuman, owner of Smelly Cat coffeehouse. She said the suspect made inappropriate comments to customers Saturday and was asked to leave. He returned Monday morning and asked customers if he could use their phone; she again asked him to leave.
"He's shouting, and he's angry and saying threatening things," said Tuman.
That's when Tuman says he pulled the knife. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but it shook up staff and several customers inside.
"You're terrified, and at the same time, you don't want him to get away," Tuman said. She and customers followed the man for 10 minutes until police arrived. Officers tracked the suspect down and took the knife, but the suspect wasn't arrested and walked away.
"I was shocked [that he wasn't arrested]," Tuman said.
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department spokesperson told Channel 9 the crime is a misdemeanor, and with misdemeanor crimes when police aren't around, a victim has to sign a warrant if they want to press charges, unless it's domestic violence related.
Tuman says she did sign a warrant for the man's arrest, but she's still worried he'll walk through the coffeehouse door and threaten staff and customers again.
"I can't let NoDa or my business look like an unsafe place," Tuman said.
The assault comes just two months after two armed robberies occurred just minutes and blocks apart in NoDa in April.
Channel 9 is looking into the report and will have updates on Eyewitness News at 5 p.m.
WSOC
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
