Suspect pulled gun on man at Lexington Cheddar’s restaurant. Victim says it’s a hate crime

A Lexington suspect accused of pulling a gun on a man inside a Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen restaurant in late March faces several charges in the incident, according to court records.

Melvin Litteral III, 52, is charged with wanton endangerment and resisting arrest after an altercation took place at the Cheddar’s at 3604 Walden Drive on March 28, according to police.

Litteral pointed a handgun in the face of the victim after a verbal altercation took place which “placed the victim at substantial risk of serious physical injury or death,” a police citation read.

Once Litteral was located by Lexington Police Department officers at his home that night, he attempted to slam the door on them and used his body to barricade the doorway. Upon entry, Litteral would not give up his hands and stiffened his arms to pull them under his body, police said.

The victim, Omar Shalash, recounted the incident on social media platform, X.

Shalash, a Muslim man, said the altercation with Litteral began after he made Islamophobic comments. One included questions toward a hostess, who Shalash said he was speaking to, about how much pork Cheddar’s sells. Litteral then asked Shalash if he owned all of the gas stations in town, he said on X.

The hostess made no attempts to intervene and laughed at Litteral’s remarks, Shalash said.

Litteral turned toward the front door and Shalash followed, asking what his problem was. Litteral then shoved Shalash and pointed a gun at his head, he said.

“Do you want to die Arabia,” Litteral asked before leaving the restaurant, according to Shalash.

“Life as a Muslim-American is drastically changing due to the continuous Islamophobia we endure on a daily basis,” Shalash wrote on X. “People will never understand the high alert we must stay on when going out to eat in a restaurant. Born and raised (in Lexington), never been in a life-or-death situation like this.

“…I hope they find him, arrest him, and the judicial branch upholds the law to the highest extent of the law.”

Slalash told the Lexington Herald-Leader on Thursday the officers involved have done a lot for his family, and communicated with him each step of the way.

“From the time they stepped into Cheddar’s to today, they have been nothing but phenomenal,” Shalash said.

Litteral’s case has been sent to a Fayette County grand jury to determine if criminal charges will be pursued against him, according to court records.

Shalash said on X he hopes a hate crime charge is brought against Litteral.

By statute, a person can be charged with a hate crime if, during the commission of a crime, they targeted a victim intentionally because of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national origin of another individual or group of individuals.

Litteral was held on a $5,000 bond on March 29, which he posted later that same day.

The Cheddar’s X account interacted with one of Shalash’s tweets addressing the actions as “extremely concerning to hear,” and asked for his personal information so a support team could follow up on the incident.

Shalash wrote he was not ready to speak to them in an official capacity.

“I will say, my biggest regret, is not walking out of Cheddars as soon as we arrived,” his reply to Cheddar’s said. “The attitude and hospitality I endured from your hostess was beyond disrespectful and all of this could have been avoided if I went with my gut instinct to leave. Once that time is appropriate, we will talk.”