WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Gary Sholar, the owner of Edward Teach Brewery, has been arrested on misdemeanor charges.
According to Sholar’s attorney, Thomas G. Varnum, Sholar turned himself in at the courthouse Friday, Feb. 3, in response to two citizen-initiated warrants stemming from an incident at Edward Teach Brewery last November.
Sholar faces misdemeanor charges of assault on a female and communicating threats.
Varnum released the following statement:
“Gary Sholar is innocent. None of the many other witnesses to the verbal exchange say they saw any kind of assault or heard any threats. Two neutral patrons who witnessed the incident have signed sworn statements attesting that Gary assaulted no one—period,” said Sholar’s attorney Edwin L. West III of Wilmington’s Brooks Pierce law firm.
“It’s vital for the public to understand that in North Carolina anyone can obtain a self-initiated arrest warrant based only on what they say happened. Regrettably, it is a process that is easily abused. The individuals who initiated these warrants waited more than seven weeks to employ this process, and did so only after Madonna Nash’s December 29 Facebook post launched a viral online campaign to defame Gary and destroy ETB’s business. As has been widely reported, Gary and ETB have sued Ms. Nash for libel.
“These charges are another chapter of that ongoing defamation campaign. Gary looks forward to the truth coming out in court.”
According to the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, the charges do not stem from one of its cases.
In North Carolina, a warrant for arrest can be citizen-initiated, according to G.S. 15A-304.
Sholar’s attorney also filed a motion Friday asking the court to recall the two self-initiated warrants and instead issue criminal summonses stating that “safeguards in the statute (that should prevent an arrest warrant from issuing based solely on the statement by the person asking for the warrant) do not seem to have been followed here.”
Varnum said that the District Court decided it didn’t have the authority to instruct a magistrate to recall warrants and issues summonses instead.
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