Assault charges dismissed against couple accused of pulling gun on woman, teen at Orion Chipotle

Pontiac — An Oakland County judge has dismissed felonious assault charges against a White Clarkston couple accused of each pulling a gun on a Black mother and her teenage daughter outside a Chipotle restaurant in Orion Township in July 2020.

Jillian Wuestenberg and Eric Wuestenberg were set to start their trial Monday. But Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Mary Ellen Brennan dismissed the charges before the trial began because the prosecution's witnesses did not appear for the trial, even though they had been subpoenaed, said Dean Greenblatt, Eric's attorney.

Oakland County prosecutors did not immediately respond Monday for comment.

Terry Johnson, Jillian Wuestenberg's attorney, said the Wuestenbergs are relieved the charges were dismissed. He said the Wuestenbergs pulled the guns out in self defense and that "anyone with common sense" could see these charges never should have been brought.

"After almost three years of political charges and allegations against them, they're feeling relieved and somewhat vindicated," Johnson said. "Unfortunately, they will not get their full life back. But this is a step in the right direction."

Greenblatt said they would have liked to have had the opportunity to be vindicated at trial, but are glad the case was dismissed. He said he believes Hill and her daughters did not appear as witnesses because they would have been "outed as the instigators in an attempted assault against the Wuestenbergs."

"It was quite clear that they were interested in creating a confrontation and video taping it," Greenblatt said.

The incident stemmed from a bump and a lack of an apology, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said at the time. It escalated after Jillian Wuestenberg started yelling at then-15-year-old Makayla Green when she said "excuse you" after Jillian Wuestenberg bumped into her while walking out of Chipotle.

Green told The Detroit News in 2020 that Jillian Wuestenberg began cussing her out, saying Green was invading her personal space. Green said she called over her mom, Takelia Hill, because she was scared.

“I walked up on the woman yelling at my daughter," Hill told The News in 2020. “She couldn’t see me because her back was to me, but she was in my daughter's face."

Green took video of the incident, beginning after the altercation moved to the parking lot toward Jillian Wuestenberg's vehicle.

On the video, either Hill or Makayla accused Jillian Wuestenberg of being "ignorant" and "racist." A man, Eric Wuestenberg, exited the vehicle and asked "Who the (expletive) do you think you guys are?" and helped his wife into the vehicle. He and Hill exchanged angry words before he gets into the driver's side, according to the video.

Hill asked Jillian Wuestenberg why she bumped her daughter, and Jillian Wuestenberg said: "You cannot just walk around calling white people racist. ... White people aren't racist. ... I care about you, and I’m sorry if you had an incident that has made someone make you feel like that. No one is racist.”

She rolled up her vehicle window and Hill stepped back as the vehicle began to drive away, though she was still behind the vehicle in the parking lot. Hill said she thought the driver was going to hit them as he backed out of the parking space, so she hit the back window of the vehicle to stop it.

Jillian Wuestenberg jumped out of the vehicle and pulled out a gun, walking backward and shouting "Get the (expletive) back!" and "Back the (expletive) up!," according to the video. Her husband also got out of the vehicle with a gun.

Jillian Wuestenberg told the Associated Press in 2020 that she was scared she was going to be killed.

“Within moments, a second or two, I had multiple people within two feet of me and I just remember thinking I’m not going home tonight," Jillian Wuestenberg told the AP. “That meant I’m about to die and I don’t want to die."

Hill yelled for someone to call 911 as Jillian Wuestenberg got back into the vehicle.

911 calls came in from Chipotle employees, bystanders and Jillian Wuestenberg, saying she felt threatened and two women were damaging her car in a parking lot.

Deputies arrested Jillian Wuestenberg at the scene and confiscated her weapon. Bouchard said the couple each possessed one loaded firearm and both had concealed pistol licenses.

Eric Wuestenberg was fired from his job as a coordinator for veterans support services at Oakland University. A statement from OU called the behavior "unacceptable."

kberg@detroitnews.com