A local man was charged with a felony after he menacingly displayed a noose to a teenager in Fredericksburg, police said.

Clifford Ingoglia, 21, of no fixed address was charged with displaying a noose on private property with the intent to intimidate and assault by intimidation.

City police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said the incident took place about 11 p.m. at the McDonald’s in Central Park.

The noose charge is a Class 6 felony, which carries a potential prison term of up to five years.

The law making it a felony took effect on July 1. It was not clear yesterday if it has resulted in any other felony charges.

According to Bledsoe, the 15-year-old victim and his 14-year-old friend were walking to their table when the older teen stepped on Ingoglia’s foot.

The boy told police that it was an accident and he immediately apologized.

But after the teens got to their table, they and the people at the suspect’s table exchanged words and glares, Bledsoe said.

Police said the suspect then went out to his car and got a length of rope that was shaped like a noose.

He then walked to the window just outside of where the teens were sitting and shook the rope at the boy who’d stepped on his foot.

The boys then left the restaurant and went to the nearby Walmart and called a parent. The parent called police, and the suspect was still at the McDonald’s when police arrived.

Ingoglia, a former Stafford resident, was arrested and placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond.

The noose law was sponsored in the General Assembly by Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg. It reportedly stemmed from two allegations of workplace intimidation in Rockingham County.

The noose has long been a symbol of lynchings that used to terrorize African-Americans, particularly in the deep South.

The victim in this case was an African-American, but the law makes no reference to race.

Ingoglia is no stranger to trouble. He was convicted of a rape charge in Oregon in April of last year and of violating probation in Stafford County in February.

Earlier this month, he spent eight days in the local jail after being charged with failing to register as a sex offender.

He was released on bond on March 16.

Keith Epps: 540/374-5404 kepps@freelancestar.com