North Carolina auditor faces hit-and-run, traffic charges

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s elected state auditor has a court docket date subsequent week after she was cited for misdemeanor hit-and-run and one other traffic-related cost when police stated she hit a parked automotive whereas driving on a Raleigh street.

Beth Wooden, 68, was cited Dec. 12 for a collision that occurred 4 days earlier than that resulted solely in property injury to the parked sedan, in response to a Wake County court docket quotation. Raleigh police accused Wooden of hit-and-run — leaving the scene and property injury — and for an unsafe motion infraction, court docket data present.

Wooden’s court docket look is Jan. 26 in Wake District Courtroom. Somebody with no earlier legal file would face no energetic jail time for a hit-and-run misdemeanor however may face probation. An unsafe motion rely might be punishable by a high-quality.

Lane Rosen, a spokesperson for the state auditor’s workplace, stated Thursday that Wooden had no touch upon the costs, which had been first reported by Axios Raleigh.

Wooden, a Democrat, was elected in 2008. She has been reelected 3 times, most lately in 2020. She beforehand labored within the auditor’s workplace and state treasurer’s workplace.

Based on the quotation, the collision occurred about 9 p.m. Dec. 8 on South Salisbury Road. Wake County District Legal professional Lorrin Freeman stated Raleigh police performed an investigation.

The charging officer says there was possible trigger to imagine that Wooden operated a Toyota on the scene of a collision wherein she knew she was concerned and failed to supply her title, deal with and different data, the quotation says. It additionally seems Wooden operated a automobile whereas “failing to see earlier than turning from a direct line that such motion might be made in security,” the quotation reads.

The state auditor, considered one of 10 members of the North Carolina Council of State, performs monetary evaluations of state companies, in addition to efficiency audits and different research sought by the Basic Meeting.