NC Auditor Beth Wood apologizes for December hit-and-run, calls it ‘a serious mistake’

North Carolina State Auditor Beth Wood confirmed on Monday that she was involved in a hit-and-run crash last month and apologized for leaving the scene of the wreck, a decision she said was “a serious mistake.”

In a statement, Wood said she had just left a holiday party in downtown Raleigh when she hit a parked car and, after being unable to move her vehicle, left the scene without informing the police or the owner of the car she had damaged.

“On the evening of December 8, 2022, I attended a holiday gathering in downtown Raleigh. I was at the event for approximately two hours. When I left, I made a sharp right turn and inadvertently hit a parked car. I was shaken by the incident and, when I was unable to move my vehicle, I left the scene,” Wood said in the statement. “That was a serious mistake and I regret my decision.”

Wood’s statement is the first time the Democratic state auditor has publicly addressed the Dec. 8 incident since news of her being charged by police for the crash came to light last week.

Police charged Wood last month with a Class 2 misdemeanor for hit-and-run involving leaving the scene and causing property damage, and an infraction for unsafe movement. Both charges came on Dec. 12, four days after the incident occurred on the night of Dec. 8.

The car Wood was driving at the time of the crash was a 2021 Toyota Camry, the vehicle issued to her by a division of the Department of Administration, The N&O reported last week. Police accused Wood of slamming her vehicle into a car parked on the side of the road and then fleeing from the scene.

In her statement, Wood said she notified Motor Fleet Management, the division of DOA that provides state employees with vehicles, the morning after the incident that she was involved in an accident. She said she was “subsequently was cited by police for unsafe movement and for failing to provide my name and other information to the owner of the car or a law enforcement officer.”

Wood’s statement was provided to The News & Observer by Fitzpatrick Communications, a Raleigh public relations firm. The firm said in an email Wood would not be giving any interviews at this time.

Multiple questions remain unanswered about crash

Bystanders who came across the scene of the crash called 911 and reported that one of the cars, the black sedan belonging to Wood, was on top of the other, the parked sedan. The callers also stated that no one was in either vehicle.

When police responded to the scene, the engine of Wood’s car was running, and the driver “appeared to have fled,” a responding officer stated in a police report. Wood’s car “overrode up onto the hood” of the parked car, the officer reported.

Wood did not return multiple requests for comment last week, and up until Monday morning, had not publicly addressed the incident.

“I sincerely regret my actions and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement,” Wood said in her statement Monday. “I have served the people of North Carolina as their State Auditor since 2009. I made a mistake in judgment on December 8, but I am committed to continuing to perform my duties with the same energy and determination I am known for.”

“I apologize to the owner of the car I hit, my staff and all I serve for leaving the scene of the accident,” she added. “I have learned from this mistake and am fully accepting personal responsibility for my actions.”

Multiple questions still remain unanswered, including what caused Wood to drive her vehicle into the parked car, and why Wood was charged by police four days after the crash occurred.

It’s also still not clear where Wood went after she abandoned her car, and if she subsequently called the police or if officers tracked the vehicle to Wood, and if so, when that happened.

Wood faces scrutiny, calls for resignation

Pressure has mounted on Wood since last week to explain what happened during the incident.

On Monday, the North Carolina Republican Party called on Wood to resign.

“While the car accident may have been a mistake, the decision to sneak away from the scene was intentional and wholly unbecoming of an elected official,” the N.C. GOP posted on Twitter.

“North Carolina deserves better from their State Auditor. Beth Wood should resign.”

Another call for Wood to resign was spotted over the weekend in Youngsville, about 25 miles north of Raleigh, where a billboard showed a graphic of one car on top of another and said, “In a hit in run and need help? Call 1-800-RESIGN.” A photo of the billboard was posted on Twitter by a reporter for Axios Raleigh. The billboard didn’t say who paid for it.

Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein also responded to their fellow Democrat’s controversy on Monday.

“This was a troubling incident and the Governor is glad that the Auditor has addressed it publicly,” Sam Chan, a spokesperson for Cooper, said in a statement. “The Governor has not communicated with her about it. There’s an investigation and court proceeding going on and he believes it’s appropriate for that to proceed.”

“Because this matter is being handled by local law enforcement and the local district attorney, our office and the attorney general have no involvement and we are unable to comment further,” Stein spokesperson Nazneen Ahmed said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Wood who had been working for the auditor’s office since June 2021 confirmed to The N&O on Monday that he had turned in his notice of resignation on Friday — two days after news of the charges against Wood was first reported.

The spokesperson, Lane Rosen, said he had “already planned” to resign and that his decision was “unrelated” to the hit-and-run, adding that he decided to leave his position due to a “personal reason.”

In a public video posted on TikTok over the weekend, Rosen said he was quitting his job “working as a communications specialist for an elected official who just got charged with a misdemeanor hit-and-run.”

The 27-second video remained viewable publicly until Monday morning, when it appeared to have been taken down. A link to it led to a page that said the video was “currently unavailable.”

Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan contributed to this report.

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