L’affaire Wood: arrests, a guilty plea, and some BIG outstanding questions

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If I imbibed at least ONE adult beverage and then parked my car atop a nearby parked car, I DOUBT I’d be getting the touchy-feely treatment our state auditor Beth Wood has been getting.

We’ve all heard by now about Ms. Wood’s misadventure while attending the early-December Christmas bash thrown by one Rufus Edmisten. Video surfaced of Wood fleeing into a nearby office while two guys stood by the two damaged cars.

Wood has refused to resign — even though her job includes lecturing other state employees about misuse of state property.  And I’d definitely classify parking your state car atop a nearby parked car “a misuse of state property.”

We’ve recently received word that Wood has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge. 

We’ve also learned that two guys –  Jonah Mendys, 26, of Chapel Hill and Ryan McGuirt, 26, also of Chapel Hill – have been arrested and charged.

Mendys, according to reports, was a passenger in Wood’s car.  He has been charged with obstructing justice and passenger failure to give information.

McGuirt, also according to reports, has been charged with obstructing justice and accessory after the fact.  Reports indicate that McGuirt drove Wood away from the scene in his personal vehicle before the cops arrived.

That’s all fine and dandy, but video taken moments after the crash show two white women – well out of their 20s – rushing Wood into the nearby building.  We also see two men – one white man well out of his 20s wearing a suit AND RED SHOES and one black man in an orange hat – standing right by the wreckage.

Who were these folks? Why didn’t they call the police? With all the technology North Carolina law enforcement has at its disposal, NO ONE can ID these four people?  These four look like prime candidates for charges very similar to what Mendys and McGuirt got hit with.  Perhaps, Mendys and McGuirt did not have the top-drawer political chops this quartet had and has.

It’s no secret that the Wake DA, Lorrin Freeman, is the daughter of Franklin Freeman, one of the top dogs in the Jim Hunt political machine.  She’s got Democrat politics in her blood big time. It’s also being reported that she’s looking hard at the soon-to-be vacant attorney general’s job. Overlooking the involvement of four BIG Dems and allowing Wood to get off with a slap on the wrist would earn her a lot of goodwill and brownie points on the left side of the aisle.

So, two young guys get hit hard. A prominent pol gets a hand-slap.  And FOUR other people just might get off scot-free.