NC Auditor Beth Wood pleads guilty to hit-and-run charge
North Carolina State Auditor Beth Wood pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge stemming from her crashing into a parked car in downtown Raleigh last December.
Wood appeared in Wake County court with her attorney, Roger W. Smith Jr., for the hearing. Wood pleaded guilty to the Class 1 misdemeanor and read aloud a statement in which she said she made “a grave mistake” leaving the scene of the crash and took “full and complete responsibility” for her actions.
She also said, for the first time since news of the crash and her charges was first reported more than two months ago, that she had been drinking at the Christmas party she attended that night. But, she said, she wasn’t impaired when she got behind the wheel.
“I was not impaired but given the positioning of the cars and knowing I had two glasses of wine, I made an error in judgment in the moment,” Wood said. “In the end, if I had made the right decision, we would not be here today.”
Wood was ordered to pay about $300 in court costs.
A Democrat who has served as auditor since 2009, Wood was leaving the holiday party on the evening of Dec. 8 in her state-issued Toyota Camry when she crashed the vehicle into another Camry that was parked on the side of the road. A police report and photos from the scene of the crash showed Wood’s car on top of the hood of the other vehicle, and the responding officer reported that Wood’s car had been abandoned, with the engine running.
Video taken moments after the crash showed people escorting Wood back into the law office on the corner of South Salisbury and West Hargett streets, where Wood had been attending a holiday party hosted by former N.C. Attorney General and Secretary of State Rufus Edmisten.
Wood didn’t report the crash to the police or the owner of the car she hit, and on Dec. 12, Raleigh police charged her with misdemeanor hit-and-run and an infraction for unsafe movement. The unsafe movement charge was dropped as part of her agreement to plead guilty, according to Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, after Wood paid more than $11,000 in restitution.
The restitution went to the Department of Administration, which oversees the motor fleet for state employees. The money included $7,707.03 for towing and repairing her state-issued Camry and $4,108 more for the cost of damage to the parked Camry.
Charges against Beth Wood
The December crash, which didn’t become public knowledge until news outlets reported the charges against Wood in mid-January, has put Wood under considerable scrutiny.
Apart from a statement Wood issued in January, in which she apologized for leaving the scene of the crash without notifying the police, Wood had mostly avoided answering questions about the crash, including why she didn’t immediately call the police, and if she had been drinking during the two hours she said she was at Edmisten’s party.
Smith, Wood’s attorney, spoke to reporters after the hearing. He said he believed Wood had taken full responsibility by pleading guilty and paying restitution. Asked if she should have been more transparent about the incident earlier, Smith said Wood had the right to let the legal process play out before making additional public comments.
He also said that speculation that she may have avoided a stricter charge by leaving the scene after she had been drinking was false, and emphasized, as Wood said in court, that she wasn’t impaired at the time of the crash.
“She can absolutely be trusted because she came in court today, in person, and pled guilty to exactly what she was charged with. Absolutely, she can be trusted here,” Smith said. “And I disagree with the notion that she avoided a more serious charge. I disagree with that completely.”
Even as Wood pleads guilty, however, the case hasn’t come to an end, with police charging two additional people last week with obstructing justice in connection to the December incident.
One of them, Jonah Mendys, 26, was also charged with misdemeanor passenger failure to give information following an accident. The other person charged, Ryan McGurt, 29, faces a separate misdemeanor accessory after the fact charge.
Freeman, who confirmed the charges on Wednesday, said one of the men was a passenger in Wood’s car at the time of the crash.
Wood briefly addressed the additional charges on Thursday, saying she regrets that Mendys and McGurt have been charged as well.
The North Carolina Republican Party, in the days after news of Wood’s charges was first reported, called on her to resign. Few others have joined the state GOP in calling on her to resign, however.
Prominent politicians and lawmakers from both parties, like Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and GOP Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, have instead said they believe the court process should play out before they comment further.
Wood, speaking to The N&O last month after a committee meeting at the Legislative Building, said she would “absolutely not” resign, as the state GOP has called on her to do.
“That accident does not define me, nor does it take away from the phenomenal work we’ve done in my administration,” Wood said.
Prior to news of the crash and her charges coming to light in January, Wood indicated she would run for another term in 2024. She hasn’t since said if she still plans to run for reelection.
This story was originally published March 23, 2023 at 2:58 PM.
