After his fourth DWI arrest, the mayor of this small North Carolina town resigns
The troubled tenure of Sharpsburg Mayor Robert Williams Jr. ended Wednesday when the town voted to accept his resignation, a move that followed his fourth arrest for drunk driving.
Williams, serving his second term in the town just south of Rocky Mount, was suspended in January, shortly after the first of three DWI arrests in the last year.
He submitted his one-sentence resignation by email Monday, citing medical issues, which the Board of Commissioners accepted by unanimous vote.
“This has been a long and stressful process for everyone involved,” said Town Attorney Brian Pridgen. “The board and staff are very glad to have it behind them.”
Sharpsburg straddles Nash, Edgecombe and Wilson counties with roughly 2,000 residents in all.
Mayor Robert Williams’ first DWI arrest
Williams started his first term as mayor on a rocky note in 2018 when police charged him with DWI on the night of his Election Night victory.
While in office, he stood accused of retaliating against the town’s police officers shortly after his arrest. His behavior drew a letter of complaint from the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association, which accused the new mayor of “racially charged insults and inappropriate hand gestures.”
He won re-election in 2021, but picked up a second DWI in December, leading to his suspension.
Demands copy of meeting agenda, slurs his words
The next drunk-driving arrest came in February, which Police Chief Michael Thomas recalled Wednesday as the mayor arriving at a commissioners meeting while appearing to stumble. The Wilson Times reported the mayor drove onto town property and demanded a copy of the meeting agenda, where authorities noticed his slurred speech.
“I’ll say this,” Thomas said at Wednesday’s meeting, “it was an eventful evening.”
Williams’ fourth DWI arrest came in Rocky Mount in July.
Pridgen said the town will notify elections officials and decide how to move forward in the mayor’s absence. He noted Sharpsburg’s recent progress with a new Town Hall.