‘Say Sorry!’: Colorado CEO Who Picked Up 15-Year-Old and Threw Him Like Rag Doll After Teen Accidently Splashed Water on His Wife Charged with Assault
The CEO of a private equity firm in Colorado is facing felony assault charges after he was caught on camera violently attacking a 15-year-old boy and slamming him to the floor of an In-N-Out Burger for accidentally splashing his wife with water, according to police.
Lucas Kalisher, 55, the chief executive at Summit Source Funding, was at the restaurant in Loveland on Aug. 4 when the teen, who was goofing off in the restaurant dining room, accidentally splashed the woman while flinging water at his pals.
The teen approached the table to apologize when a man the size of a professional wrestler stood up and grabbed him.
Video footage shows the large man ordering the startled boy to “say sorry” before placing him in a chokehold and throwing him to the tile floor like a rag doll.
“You don’t treat a lady that way,” Kalisher admonished the teen while standing over him.
The boy’s pals quietly backed away from the man, not wanting to be next in line to face his wrath.
Witnesses were also stunned, with one person calling out the man for “picking on a kid like that.”
Before his identity emerged, footage of the shocking confrontation went viral online, with many eager to identify the attacker. This included the father of another teen in the video, who was outraged that his son’s friend was “assaulted by a full-grown man.”
The suspect and his wife left the restaurant on Fall River Drive before police arrived, but witnesses identified the assailant as Kalisher and a warrant was issued for his arrest on Aug. 13.
After deleting his social media accounts, Kalisher surrendered the same night at 10:33 p.m.
He was charged with second-degree felony assault with strangulation and one misdemeanor count of child abuse.
Kalisher remained jailed while awaiting his first appearance.
It’s not clear whether he has a history of violence.
A LinkedIn profile for Summit Source Funding touts Kalisher’s employer as a private equity firm that creates and funds ventures in the oil and gas industry with a focus on helium production. The company, based in Boulder, Colorado, has only a handful of employees.
In June, Kalisher purchased a $1.75 million four-bedroom home in rural Loveland, about an hour’s drive north of Denver, featuring multiple paddocks and shelters for farm animals and equipment, according to the listing on Zillow.