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At a place where managers, employees and patrons pride themselves on acceptance and love, a message of hate was left before the sun came up Saturday.
"We just have a lot of fun here on this property so to read those words on our window, it really made me upset," said Melvin Theriault, the director of operations at Cocktail, a gay bar on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg.
Theriault said a customer noticed the vandalism on the front window the following day. A homophobic phrase, including a derogatory slur, was written in what appeared to be a permanent marker. Managers at the bar contacted police and handed over the images caught on surveillance video.
The man seen on video was identified Tuesday afternoon as 57-year-old William Yacko, according to department spokesperson Ashley Limardo. Jail records show he was booked on Monday, March 13, in the Pinellas County Jail on unrelated criminal mischief charges.
He will face an additional charge of felony criminal mischief with a hate speech enhancement because of the homophobic comments, Limardo added.
More: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pinellascounty/cocktail-st-pete-vandalized/67-7fa5dea6-edc4-46c2-bbc5-6cc38a8e06a5