Councilman Antonio Williams charged with two counts of failure to appear
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on September 8, 2016 9:42 AM
Goldsboro City Council member Antonio Williams was charged Tuesday with two counts of failure to appear in court.
Warrants were served on Williams at the Wayne County Magistrate's Office when the Goldsboro Police Department received a call that Williams was there.
Williams had an order for his arrest out for failing to appear in court on two separate charges. The warrant was issued in June.
Police Chief Mike West said Williams was released on a written promise to appear.
According to court records, Williams' next appearance in court is Sept. 16.
West said if he does not appear in court on his new court date, the consequences will be more severe.
"They will issue another order for his arrest and at that point it will take more than a written promise, which should be a secured cash bond," West said.
According to court records, Williams was supposed to be in court for charges of driving while license revoked and failing to burn headlamps.
"I was pulled over by a police officer, and he said I didn't have my lights on," Williams said when reached by phone Wednesday afternoon. "From there he said my North Carolina license had been suspended, but I didn't give him a North Carolina license. I gave him a New York state license."
Williams said he did not appear in court for the charges because he spoke with Sheriff Larry Pierce and believed that the issue was cleared up, and he would not need to appear in court.
"The issue was supposed to be cleared up. It wasn't cleared up," Williams said. "When I searched my records these issues came up again, and I saw there were issues with my license, and I had a warrant out, so I went to the magistrates office to talk to them and tell them these issues came up on my license, and I had a warrant out so I could set the record straight."
But Pierce refutes the notion that he said anything to indicate Williams' charges would have been cleared after speaking with him.
Pierce said Williams was stopped by a sheriff's deputy and a Goldsboro police officer, and then called Pierce about the issue, leaving a voicemail for Pierce to call him.
Pierce said when he returned Williams' call, Williams was questioning the charges and the conduct of the officers.
"I explained the charges and he questioned them, but I explained that they were valid charges and that I would check into the conduct of the officers," Pierce said. "I at no time said anything that would indicate he would not need to handle his charges in the courtroom."
(This story was updated on September 9 at 1:49 pm)