by Josh Lanier

HUNTERSVILLE – The Mecklenburg County District Attorney has dropped an assault charge against two-term Huntersville Commissioner Ken Lucas after finding the victim “not credible,” a court document said.

“We’re fortunate in this county to have a wise district attorney who has the good sense not to waste the taxpayers money on another lengthy trial when this has been fully litigated and found to be untrue,” Lucas’ attorney, Allen Brotherton, said.

Lucas was arrested Jan. 17 and charged with assault on a female after his wife, Angela Lucas, claimed he had pushed her into a couch, bloodying her nose during an argument at the couple’s Glen Miro Drive home.

They are currently divorcing.

Charges in the case were dropped last week, a court document said. The full court report was not available.

On Jan. 16, Angela Lucas asked for a temporary restraining order and requested custody of their 9-year-old son and the home. A Mecklenburg County judge tossed that request after finding the evidence insufficient.

In other police news:

N.C. Supreme court hears arguments in campus police case

DAVIDSON – The N.C. Supreme Court heard arguments this week in the case that will determine if Davidson College is allowed to have a police force.

The court heard oral arguments Tuesday, March 15, surrounding a 2006 traffic stop where a Davidson College police officer arrested a woman on a town road for driving while intoxicated and reckless driving. Her attorney claimed the school, which is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, violated the separation of church and state guaranteed in the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Last year, a state appellate court ruled the school couldn’t have a police force because of its religious designation. The N.C. Attorney General’s office, which certified the police force, appealed the ruling to the state’s highest court.

It is unclear when the Supreme Court might rule in the case.

Man arrested in overnight armed robbery

CORNELIUS – A 33-year-old Cornelius man was arrested last week and charged with armed robbery after police say he robbed a McDonald’s manager as she tried to make an overnight bankdeposit.

Police arrested Philip Antonio Gilmer March 9 during a traffic stop and charged him with the early morning robbery.

The restaurant employee called police at about 6 a.m. March 2 after she said a man came up to her in the Bank of America parking lot, located at 20005 W. Catawba Ave., and demanded her money and her car, police said.

The woman, in her early 50s, surrendered both, and the man drove away in her vehicle. Police found it abandoned at the Marina Shores apartment complex a few hours later. The woman was uninjured, police said.

Gilmer is being held at the Mecklenburg County jail on a $75,000 bond, the jail log said.