Guest Post: Womack served summons in felony case at Polk County rally

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in Cops and Congress, a Rutherford County Based Substack written by Annie Dance. Shared here with permission, check out her Substack here.

Newly served court papers put the candidate’s account of an unresolved 2019 incident before voters as early voting begins.Voters in North Carolina’s 14th Congressional District will choose their representative before Democratic challenger LaKesha Womack’s scheduled court appearance on a pending felony charge involving an allegedly unreturned rental car.

Court records I obtained through a public records request show a criminal summons was reissued and returned served Oct. 11. Womack is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 10, one week after Election Day, as she challenges Republican US Rep. Tim Moore. The public records give voters a documented timeline against which to assess Womack’s public explanation: She acknowledges missing the return deadline, says she did not know a criminal case existed, and says she previously believed the issue was resolved. The charge remains pending and is not a conviction.

The case concerns alleged conduct in 2019, years before this congressional campaign. Filed Jan. 14, 2020, it charges Womack with failing to return a hired motor vehicle valued at more than $4,000, a Class H felony. The original summons was returned unserved Feb. 13, 2020, by Mecklenburg County. The newly available summons alleges Womack willfully failed to return a 2019 Toyota Corolla rented from Budget Car Rental by Oct. 23, 2019. It lists the vehicle’s stated value as $20,000.

I obtained the police incident report from Nov. 26, 2019. “The listed suspect rented the vehicle from the listed business on 10/07/2019 at 11:31am and the vehicle was to be returned on 10/23/2019 at 12:00pm, but the suspect did not return the vehicle. Attempts to locate the suspect have been unsuccessful. APB sent to dispatchers,” the responding Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department officer wrote. Public records show it was later assigned to a detective.

Brittany Foster, public information officer for the Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court, confirmed the document’s availability Oct. 13 after a public records request from me.

“The criminal summons for case number 20CR201748-590 is now viewable on (eCourts) Portal. No additional documents have been filed,” Foster said.

Womack addressed the case in an Oct. 9 campaign video she called a “family meeting.” She said she moved to North Carolina in 2016 to work on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and subsequently became homeless with her son. She cited homelessness as the reason she did not know about the case.

“And I did not know that they had filed a case against me for this because again, I was homeless,” Womack said. “So I had nowhere to receive mail.” In another video on Oct. 11, posted on Oct. 12, she said she was living at a hotel during that time.

“Obviously, like I thought I had resolved the issue, but it’s not resolved,” she said on Oct. 9. “And so at one point I had a rental car,” she said. “And I did not return the rental car on time.”

“But I just want you all to know that, you know, I do owe them people some money,” she said.

Under NC General Statute 14-167, willfully failing to return a rented motor vehicle valued above $4,000 at the time of rental is a Class H felony. That threshold refers to the vehicle’s value, not unpaid rental charges. In a Facebook video with the NAACP Gastonia branch, Womack confirmed Polk County authorities served her. She questioned how they “knew what car she was driving” when she arrived at a Democratic Party rally.

She said she “cried” about the scrutiny and did not want “people talking” about her. The Polk County Republican Party said on X that a sheriff’s deputy served Womack at the rally at the high school. Its post described her as a “terrible candidate” and predicted Moore would “kick her butt.”

Womack accused Moore and his campaign of trying to distract voters. “But what we’re not going to do is try to slander me,” she said on Oct. 9. The available records do not establish that Moore or his campaign initiated the reporting.

Moore provided this statement to me on Oct. 12:

“In response to your question about Ms. Womack’s apparent pending felony charge I can say that as an attorney for over 30 years I believe in the rule of law. I think everyone should be held to the same standard of justice and this situation is no different. I wish her the best navigating this legal matter - but I think the best thing she could do is to hire a good lawyer. As for me, I will remain focused on delivering results for my district and all constituents and running a campaign focusing on those issues.”

The candidates have also offered differing housing and jobs proposals at a Burke County forum. Moore cited federal housing legislation previously covered by CJ.

In a Facebook post on Oct. 14 in response to public attention to the matter, Womack wrote:

“…people worried about my pending legal issue are the same ones supporting a president with 30+ felony convictions is very weird behavior… not to mention the numerous ethical investigations of the current representative… again let’s be fair and balanced with our selective outrage.”

Moore does not have any House Ethics complaints, according to available public records.

Womack did not respond to a request for comment. Early voting runs Oct. 15 through 3 p.m. Oct. 31. Election Day is Nov. 3.