09-04-2025
Missouri House staff member faces assault, harassment charges
The Cole County Courthouse in Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)
A Missouri House staff member was charged Wednesday with assault and harassment after threatening to shoot a Jefferson City restaurant owner, according to documents filed in Cole County Circuit Court.
Christian Chenet, 28, was being held in the Cole County Jail. Bond will be set later today, Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Locke Thompson said in an email and Chenet will have his first court appearance Friday if he does not post bond.
The first degree harassment charge is a felony and the assault charge is a misdemeanor.
'Harassment and assault cases are kept on an automatic 24 hour hold, so he won't have the ability to bond out until the judge sets a bond,' Thompson said.
The incident that led to charges began about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday when Chenet, who is a legislative assistant to state Rep. Kem Smith, a St. Louis Democrat, went to Izzy's Burgers and Shakes to retrieve a purse left behind by state Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Columbia Democrat.
Smith declined to comment on Chenet's arrest. Steinhoff also declined to comment. There is no attorney yet listed for Chenet on Casenet.
The incident became heated when the owner of Izzy's, Taisir Yanis, refused to turn over the purse, looked inside to determine the owner and stated he could only release it to Steinhoff.
'This enraged the defendant and he became angry that the victim was in the purse,' according to the probable cause statement from Jefferson City Police officer Mitchell Rossian.
Chenet called Yanis a 'f**king racist,' Rossian wrote, who told Chenet to leave and followed him outside.
Yanis told officers that he told Chenet not to come back to the business, Rossian wrote. Yanis told officers that is when Chenet told him, 'stay here. I'm going to go get my gun.'
Chenet went to a vehicle and told responding officers that he had a gun in the car. A search found a Glock 9mm pistol.
Chenet told officers that Yanis pushed him and he ran to his vehicle. He said had called 911 and 'mentioned shooting (Yanis).'
Under questioning, Rossian wrote, Chenet 'still thought his actions were justified during the interview.'
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