Update 5:30 p.m.
A second town official and former Haymarket Town Councilman was also arrested following Haymarket Day.
Robert Weir, who is appointed as the head of the town’s planning commission, was served with a summons charging him with “curse and abuse,” according to Virginia court documents.
Haymarket Police Chief James Roop said only the cursing portion of the statue applies to this case as “there was no abuse.”
Town Mayor David Leake pressed those charges on Weir, and claimed he was on a town street having a conversation with Haymarket Councilwoman and Planning Commission member Rebecca Bare on Sept. 21 during the annual Haymarket Day celebration and Weir interjected and began cursing at both of them.
“It was an ugly incident…we had children in the street,” said Leake.
Potomac Local News has reached out to Weir will bring you any comments he might make in an update.
Weir, a Republican, told the Washington Post he sought to unseat Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart in 2009
Town Council reacts
Monday will mark the first meeting of the Haymarket Town Council since Vice-Mayor Jay Tobias was charged with public intoxication on Sept. 21. The council is expected to review the town’s code of ethics for elected officials during the meeting.
Leake said Tobias could be removed from council with a 2/3 vote on the seven-member governing board. Such charges for both Tobias and Weir would warrant such a vote, added Leake.
“We need to show the citizens that this is unacceptable behavior,” he added.
3:20 p.m.
HAYMARKET, Va. — An elected official in Haymarket was arrested on the day of the town’s largest celebration, Haymarket Day.
Haymarket Vice-Mayor Jay Tobias was charged with public intoxication in public on Sept. 21, following an altercation with another man at Giuseppe’s Restaurant on Haymarket Day, an annual family-friendly event that draws thousands to the tiny western Prince William County town.
Tobias was involved in an altercation with another man about 2:30 p.m. Sept. 21, said Haymarket Police Chief James Roop. Afterward, Roop and another deputy separated the men and drove both of them to their respective homes.
“I instructed [Tobias] to stay home and not come back out that day,” said Roop.
Later that evening at 7:50 p.m., Roop spotted Tobias at Giuseppe’s Restaurant drinking a beer and arrested him, and then charged him with drunk in public, said Roop.
Tobias was taken before a magistrate that evening and released.
“At no time did he cross into the jail,” said Roop.
Roop described the incident as isolated.
Tobias said he had no comment about the arrest, and he is due in court on Nov. 7 for the charge. He faces a $250 fine, according to Roop.
Tobias has lived in Haymarket since 2003 and works as an investment banker, according to the town’s website.
More than 1,800 people, including several community groups and schools, participated in this year’s annual Haymarket Day festival.
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