In an ironic twist, a main proponent of shutting down the Tiki Bar in Solomon’s Island is awaiting a court date on four criminal charges after the bar’s owner filed papers claiming he was harassed and nearly assaulted.

Dr. Ronald “Chip” Ross, of Solomon’s Island, has a scheduled court date Monday in which he faces four charges for incidents that occurred at the Tiki Bar on Aug. 4 and 18. The charges are: disorderly conduct, trespassing, disturbing the peace and intoxicated endangerment.

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Ross – The Bay Net photo by Anna Bedford

—>Ross has been a leader in the charge to strip Tiki Bar owners of their liquor license since the bar opened up its rear property as an outdoor courtyard. Ross has appeared in county meetings against the bar, including the alcohol beverage board where he showed up with a thick binder of “evidence” against the bar and testified.

Ross also filed a civil lawsuit seeking to overturn a Board of Zoning Appeals decision that granted the bar after-the-fact zoning to allow the added rear courtyard.

Tiki owner Pat Donovan said in court papers that Ross had been asked to leave the property on previous occasions, but he arrived Aug. 18 and issued a verbal taunting and Donovan feared he would be assaulted by the 6-foot 6-inch doctor.

When contacted by The Bay Net, Donovan refused to comment and referred to the pending court case.

Donovan was successful in attaining a protection order against Ross and below is the full text of the criminal allegations (with profanities edited) filed by Donovan against Ross, currently on file at the clerk’s office at the Calvert County District Court:

“On Aug. 18 at the Tiki Bar … I asked Dr. Ross to leave the site. We had asked him on Aug. 4, 2006, to leave the site and to not come back. When I asked him to leave he became outraged. Dr. Ross began making verbal threats to me and I would have been assaulted if I had not jumped away from Dr. Ross on two different times during the time we escorted him off the site. He had been drinking heavily and I asked him to please go home and get some sleep and we could talk at a later time when he was sober. He told me to ‘get f—ed’ and he was going to get me etc.”

“On Aug. 4, our manager Joe Kurly asked Dr. Ross to leave the site because he had been drinking too much and making other guests uncomfortable. Dr. Ross asked Mr. Kurly whom wanted him to leave and Mr. Kurly informed him it was the management that would like him to leave. Dr. Ross then asked Mr. Kurly if he was being asked to leave ‘because he was gay?’ Mr. Kurly replied ‘we do not care about your sexual preference, we would like you to leave.’ Dr. Ross became outraged and started yelling very loudly, ‘you’re throwing me out because I’m gay,’ and had to be escorted off site and told not to step foot on the property again. Throughout the time we escorted Dr. Ross off site he continually used foul language, calling me a mother f—er, c—k sucker, and he would get me, and I was f—ing with the wrong person. Dr. Ross asked Mr. Kurly if his girlfriend had AIDS, and said my wife probably does, etc, and called me a racist bigot.

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