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Knife altercation at Exile Brewing Co. leaves owner, employees shaken

On Friday night, a man named Christopher Williams pulled out a knife and pointed it at an Exile Brewing Company manager in a way that would "suggest immediate harm."

DES MOINES, Iowa — A recent altercation at Exile Brewing Company in downtown Des Moines has the company and its employees on edge. 

R.J. Tursi, the owner and founder of Exile, said the attack happened Friday, when his manager Adam was taking the trash out.

That's when Adam saw someone in the corner.

 "He asked them what they were doing and that's when the confrontation happened," Tursi said.

According to the police report, the offender was Christopher Williams. He pulled out a knife from his pocket and pointed it at Adam in a manner that would suggest "immediate harm." 

Tursi said Adam grabbed Williams by the wrist and pulled him to the ground and got the knife out of his hand.

"It was concern for Adam first, you know, is he okay?" Tursi said. "Are you all right, anything happen, everybody else okay? And then it's just, I'm just kind of angry that something like this is happening again."

The owner noted in the past his employees had been harassed by unhoused individuals, like Williams. 

However, he said the other incidents were never that dangerous.

"Nothing ended up happening to our manager... he's a pretty big, strapping guy, but we also have young women that work down here that are bartenders and what concerns me is what would've happened if it had been one of them," Tursi said.

A no-contact order has been filed against Williams. 

Central Iowa Shelter and Services, a local homeless shelter, is not far from Exile. Local 5 reached out to them to get clarification if Williams had ever been a client of theirs. CISS did not respond to a request for comment. 

Tursi said he is not too sure how to prevent his employees from being threatened again, but he thinks the police could be an answer.

"If the police maybe had a relationship with people living out here in the area, so they know their presence, [that] would be helpful," he said.

Local 5 reached out to the Des Moines Police Department to ask if there would be extra presence by Exile of if there is a plan to address the unhoused population.

"Many of the challenges that homeless persons face are not criminal, and policing strategies don't solve those problems," Sgt. Paul Parizek told Local 5. 

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