KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Kansas City Mayor Sly James said his son is embarrassed after being involved in a disturbance at a restaurant in the city's downtown entertainment district that resulted in the 22-year-old being handcuffed before being released without charges filed.
James issued a statement Thursday saying his son was "extremely embarrassed and very sorry for the entire incident" at Fran's Restaurant in the city's Power & Light district around 4 a.m. last Saturday. An off-duty police officer said he confronted Kyle James after the manager told him James was being disruptive. The officer said James was cursing and yelling while in the restaurant, then got up and left without paying his bill.
"My son is a 22-year-old young man who made a mistake," the mayor said.
According to a police report, the officer confronted Kyle James about paying his bill, but James said he didn't eat any of the food and wouldn't pay. Because of his belligerent behavior, the officer wrote, James was put into handcuffs.
"The subject repeatedly asked me if I knew who he was," the officer said. "He told me he could have my job any time he wanted. He told me that when I woke up tomorrow he would have me fired. He advised that he could buy and sell me whenever he wanted. He stated that he could buy the restaurant if he wanted."
The restaurant manager said that while his attention and that of his servers was focused on the disturbance, several other customers walked out without paying their bills.
The manager took care of the tab at James' table - roughly $30 - to get him out of the restaurant, but he said he didn't want to prosecute him. James was given a trespass warning and told he was no longer allowed on the property, the officer said.
The officer noted he had warned James about his behavior at the restaurant on two previous occasions.
Asked Friday about claims the mayor's son had been accused of causing other disturbances in the past, both at the restaurant and at other bars, a spokesman for the mayor said that like any parent would be, Sly James is concerned about his son.
Kyle James told The Kansas City Star he was sorry for his behavior and he wanted to pay his bill at the restaurant.
"I would like to apologize to the police department and Fran's Restaurant for my blatant disrespect," James said Friday afternoon, reading from a prepared statement. "I clearly have a lot to learn. ... The way I behaved is unacceptable to myself as a person and in turn has embarrassed those whom I care about."
Sly James was elected mayor in March, replacing former Mayor Mark Funkhouser, who finished third in a seven-way primary in February and wasn't on the general election ballot.