A local congressional candidate is responding after a felony warrant was served on her at a campaign event. Body camera footage obtained by Channel 9 shows Democratic Congressional Candidate Lakesha Womack being served a felony warrant outside a campaign stop in Polk County earlier this month.
Womack is charged with felony failure to return hired property.
“It was absolutely a surprise because I found out that this was even an issue on a Friday, and miraculously, on the Sunday of a holiday weekend, they were able to get the case refiled and get me served in Polk County,” LaKesha Womack said.
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Court documents obtained by Channel 9 accuse Womack of failing to return a Toyota Corolla to Budget Rental Car by Oct. 13, 2019. The criminal summons was originally issued three months later. But it wasn’t served until about two weeks ago.
“What happened to the rental car?” Channel 9 Government Reporter Joe Bruno asked.
“I can’t talk about that because it is an ongoing legal case,” Womack said. “But I will say that if it were something much more serious, then I probably would have been served and charged much quicker than a week before early voting started.”
While Womack declined to share specifics on Thursday, prior to being served the warrant, she told supporters on Facebook she had experienced homelessness with her then 10-year-old son.
“At one point, I had a rental car, and I did not return the rental car on time,” she said. “And I did not know that they had filed a case against me for this because, again, I was homeless, so I had nowhere to receive mail.”
Womack is running for Congress in the 14th Congressional District. It includes Pineville, Steele Creek and Lake Norman and runs through Gaston, out to Polk County and up to Burke.
She says she was able to build her business and family back up and says her life experience makes her relate to voters.
She says the criminal charge is a distraction from the main issue in the race: affordability
“I think this is the American dream that within 10 years, you know I can go from being virtually homeless to running for Congress,” she said.
Womack says if elected, she will protect Social Security and advocate for Medicare for All. She is facing Republican Rep. Tim Moore. Channel 9 plans to speak with Rep. Moore on Friday.
Womack is due in court a week after the election.
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