North Carolina Democrat Lakesha Womack Says She Was Served a Felony Summons at a Campaign Event Over a 2019 Rental Car

A Democratic House candidate in North Carolina is facing a felony charge, and her court date falls a week after the election, Fox News reports.

The charge. Lakesha Womack, who is challenging Rep. Tim Moore in North Carolina's 14th District, said in a Facebook video that police served her papers when she arrived at a campaign event in Polk County on Oct. 11. The Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office told Fox she was served a criminal summons for felony failure to return a hired motor vehicle by a Polk County deputy. It did not confirm that this happened at a campaign event. Fox says records show the case was opened in January 2020. If found guilty she could face four to 24 months in jail or community service for that time.

Her account. Womack said she was homeless in 2019 after a medical emergency that sent her to intensive care, with her son placed in foster care. She said she could not afford the rental car and it was taken back, and that she did not know a felony case was pending. She questioned the timing: "y'all hadn't looked for me in the past seven years, but now all of a sudden, you know exactly what car I drive and where I'm going to be." She said she could not receive a January 2020 summons because she had no stable address.

What Fox found. In an Oct. 9 video, Womack said she did owe fees and thought she had "resolved the issue, but it's not resolved." Fox says that video appears to have been deleted from her campaign page, and that in later videos she said she could not discuss an active case.

The other side. Moore's campaign said the episode "raises serious questions" and that "she owes voters an explanation, especially since her court date is one week after the election."

Note for readers: this is a charge, not a conviction. Fox says it reached out to Womack's campaign for comment.