The man charged with assaulting a restaurant manager and a Clarkston police officer has changed attorneys, causing a postponement of court proceedings last week.
In the same court session, however, local businessman Thomas M. Wilhelm, 45, of Lake Angelus, accepted responsibility for violation of an Independence Township ordinance.
Wilhelm appeared before 52-2 District Judge Kelley Kostin on Jan. 27 for a pretrial conference in connection with a Jan. 15 incident at the Clarkston Union Bar and Grill.
After the staff at the Clarkston Union refused to serve alcohol to Wilhelm that evening, he allegedly became unruly, grabbing a manager before attempting to leave the establishment. According to Clarkston Police Chief Ernest Combs, Wilhelm (who is confined to a wheelchair) later grabbed a police officer’s jacket, pulled him down and punched him in the face.
Wilhelm was charged with assaulting a police officer (a two-year felony), assault and battery (a 93-day misdemeanor), and creating a disturbance (a 90-day misdemeanor).
Defense attorney Larry Barnett told Judge Kostin that he had just agreed to take the case from attorney Neil Wallace. Barnett said Wilhelm was willing to waive the normal requirement for a preliminary examination to be scheduled within 14 days of arraignment.
Kostin agreed to schedule a preliminary examination for sometime in mid-March. Wilhelm continues to be free on a $100,000 personal bond, which includes an order not to consume alcoholic beverages.
During the Jan. 27 appearance, Wilhelm agreed to being ‘responsible? for a civil infraction for having a vehicle for sale within 100 feet of a public road right-of-way and agreed to pay a $50 fine.