In a case that drew nationwide attention with unsubstantiated underpinnings of racism, charges were dismissed Monday against a couple who drew guns on a woman and her daughters after reportedly feeling threatened outside an Oakland County restaurant in 2020.
Eric Wuestenberg and Jillian Wuestenberg had been charged with one count each of assault with a dangerous weapon-felonious assault for the incident that happened in the Chipotle Mexican Grill parking lot in Orion Township on July 1, 2020.
Trial had been scheduled to start Monday in Oakland County Circuit Court, but the alleged victims opted to not show up to provide witness testimony, so Judge Mary Ellen Brennan dismissed the case – at least for now.
Chief Assistant Prosecutor David Williams noted that the charges were dismissed without prejudice, “meaning that our office can re-issue charges in this matter if and when those witnesses become available.” Williams declined further comment.
Yet Dean Greenblatt, attorney for Eric Wuestenberg, said the purported victims had been in communication with the prosecution, and it’s fair to assume they were fully aware of what would likely happen if they didn’t appear as witnesses.
The charges stemmed from an altercation that occurred when Jillian Wuestenberg exited the restaurant with a carry-out order and allegedly bumped into a teenage girl who was there with her mother and sister, all from Pontiac. A demand for an apology and allegations of racism led to an escalating confrontation that was recorded by a member of the Pontiac family and went viral when shared on social media.
The Pontiac family is black; the Wuestenbergs are white.
In the video, Jillian Wuestenberg is seen outside her vehicle, pointing a handgun at the Pontiac family and ordering them to back off. Eric Wuestenberg then exited the vehicle, also armed with a handgun. According to Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, the Wuestenbergs told deputies they felt threatened because the mother of the teenager stood behind their vehicle as they tried to leave and that she slapped the back of their vehicle. Also threatening statements by family members were heard.
The Pontiac family told police that in addition to having a gun pointed at them, they felt threatened because the Wuestenbergs backed into the mother with their vehicle as she walked behind it.
The couple was arrested a short time later.
The Wuestenbergs had concealed pistol licenses, but after they were charged they had to turn over all their firearms as a bond condition. Following his arrest, Eric Wuestenberg lost his job at Oakland University where he was coordinator of veterans support services.
‘Political prosecution’
Greenblatt said it was clearly a “political prosecution” (in the wake of) the George Floyd murder” in 2020. Floyd’s death while in police custody in Minneapolis triggered riots throughout the United States for alleged racism and police brutality. For others, while it didn’t spur on protests and riots, Floyd’s death rekindled claims of racism and placed some people on high alert.
“(The Wuestenbergs) were just a couple of people going to a restaurant in the height of the pandemic to pick up dinner for their family,” Greenblatt said, and that they were subsequently targeted as racists. Some media accounts of the incident hyped up the claims, he said.
“(Then-) Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper, to ensure social tranquility, was forced to bring charges,” Greenblatt said.
Greenblatt said that he, along with the Wuestenbergs and Jillian Wuestenberg’s attorney Terry Johnson, have received their “fair share of death threats” because of the case and how it was portrayed in some media reports.
As for Monday’s dismissal, Greenblatt said it was satisfying — though an acquittal by a jury would’ve been better.
The Wuestenbergs, he said, have lived “with clouds over their head for three years.”
“Nothing can bring their jobs back, their lives back, their reputations back,” Greenblatt said.
In weighing in on the dismissal, Johnson said: “On behalf of my client, we’re excited it only took 32 months for the Oakland County Prosecutor to finally drop the charges. My client’s life, unfortunately, will never be the same.”
Johnson also said that the Wuestenbergs’ right to defend themselves was ignored all along.
“Three words that were never said — in self defense,” he said. “People forget this was done in self-defense. This wasn’t some crazy lady out in the streets pointing a gun at someone.”
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