This story about an altercation at Amber Jack Ale House in Springfield came to my attention while working on Police Beat in May.

After the story was published on SJ-R.com and then the newspaper the following day, readers began calling and emailing the newspaper wanting to talk about experiences they had at the restaurant. A short time later, two sites sprang up on Facebook — one calling for a boycott of Amber Jack’s and the other asking people to share their stories about being banned by the Amber Jack’s owner who was the subject of my story. Within about 24 hours or so one of the Facebook sites had more than 1,000 “fans” and the other had more than 500. It’s a fascinating example of the power of social networking. By the way, the ‘boycott’ site later was pulled by Facebook for violating its rules about personal attacks.

Amber Jack owner, customer cited after altercation Saturday

May 10, 2010

The owner of Amber Jack Ale House and a customer face battery charges after a weekend confrontation at the Springfield restaurant that allegedly involved shoving and slapping.

Police issued notices to appear in court to Amber Jack owner Catherine D. McHenry, 53, of the 2000 block of South Willemore Avenue and customer Charles T. Silvey, 47, of Athens.

The incident happened about 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the business, 3150 Chatham Road. Police said they arrived to find the restaurant’s co-owner, who is McHenry’s husband, holding Silvey down on the floor. Numerous customers were inside, including prom parties and others.

Police provided this account of the confrontation:

Silvey and his party went to the restaurant to eat and had reservations for 14. When they got to their table, they found only 12 chairs, so they asked for two more chairs. McHenry approached and said there were supposed to be only 12 people. The customers said that was not correct.

McHenry retrieved two more chairs. Silvey asked his group if they should leave and go to a nearby Steak ‘n Shake restaurant instead.

McHenry asked, “Why? You got your chairs,” police said. Silvey responded, “Because of your mouth and your attitude,” according to police.

McHenry walked away and then returned to the table with silverware. She threw it down on the table where the group was seated, and some of it bounced off the table and struck one of the customers in the upper chest, police said.

The group decided to leave. Silvey told police he got up along with the rest of his group to head to the exit, and as they were walking past the area where the kitchen meets the dining room, McHenry pushed him in the chest, causing him to lose his balance. Silvey then slapped McHenry in the face, police said.

Both were arrested for battery. Police said they talked to numerous customers who witnessed the altercation. They said Silvey did not approach McHenry in an aggressive manner and that he did not react until she approached him and shoved him in the chest, police said.

No one was injured, police said.