2 men facing misdemeanor charges after State Auditor Beth Wood's crash appear in court

Mendys, 26, of Chapel Hill, is charged with obstructing justice and passenger failure to give information. Documents say Mendys was in the passenger seat of Wood's state-issued car.

Mendys' next court date was set for June 15.

Ryan McGuirt, 29, of Chapel Hill, is charged with obstructing justice and accessory after the fact. He was also scheduled to appear in court Thursday.

Wood crashed her state-owned Toyota Camry on Dec. 8, 2022, documents show. She is due in court on Thursday afternoon on a misdemeanor charge of hit-and-run resulting in property damage related to the crash on Salisbury Street near Hargett Street in downtown Raleigh. Wood also faces an unlawful movement charge.

WRAL News has repeatedly asked Wood and her attorney if she was drinking the night of the crash, but they have not answered that.

Public records state McGuirt "did unlawfully and willfully delay a criminal investigation by assisting Beth Ann Wood, the driver, in fleeing the scene of a reportable accident by assisting her to a parking lot and transporting her away in a white Toyota Tacoma truck that is his personal property, transporting her away from the scene. This act prevented, obstructed, impeded and hindered legal justice."

Cellphone video from an Uber driver that night showed Wood being pushed into a law office, surrounded by people.

'Get her out of here': Video appears to show State Auditor Beth Wood being ushered from scene of crash

The documents allege Mendys failed to report the crash, and that he "did unlawfully and willfully delay a criminal investigation by assisting Beth Ann Wood, the driver, in fleeing the scene of a reportable accident and into an adjourning building out of the site of witnesses and law enforcement. This act prevented, obstructed, impeded and hindered legal justice."

They "essentially lied to police," said Daniel Meier, an attorney with Meier Law Group, who told WRAL News it is unlikely the men would go to jail.

"[The charges] are misdemeanor ... at the worse case you are looking at a fine or some sort of probation," Meier said. "They will reach some type of agreement that if you testify or cooperate we will drop these [charges]. Usually it is pretty successful because people don’t want conviction, they want clean records, especially these folks."

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