Rockford bar owner accused of hate crime, pulling gun on transgender customer

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Police arrested Jason Conerly, 53, for allegedly holding a gun to the head of a transgender customer.

The victim told investigators the incident happened on April 8th, at the Rockford Rusty Nail Bar, at 1804 18th Avenue, near closing time. The victim said the bar advertised on its Google listing that it was “LGBTQ-friendly.”

According to court documents, the victim started to converse with the female bartender until Conerly, the bar’s owner, started to get in the victim’s “personal space.”

The victim told authorities Conerly stated something similar to, “I’m not gonna touch you, and you’re not gonna touch me, right?” The victim agreed with the comment and the owner then walked outside for a few minutes, police said.

The bartender told the victim she needed to make sure Conerly was not going to drive home. In an interview on June 11, the bartender told officials Conerly had been drinking heavily and taking pain medication.

Conerly returned a short time later and directed several more questions at the victim before allegedly drawing a handgun and holding it to the victim’s right temple, saying something similar to, “This needs to end now,” according to court records.

The victim told police she answered, “No problem, I can leave right now,” at which point Conerly reportedly placed the gun on the bar and the victim left.

The bartender told police Conerly later apologized to her, and claimed he could not remember the night’s events.

Conerly is being charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and a hate crime.

He was booked into the Winnebago County Jail on July 30th and then released following a pretrial detention hearing. He is due to appear at an August 13th arraignment.

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