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Video from auditor's office shows Beth Wood get into car minutes before hit-and-run crash

Video released to WRAL News by the state Department of Administration shows State Auditor Beth Wood getting into her state-issued car minutes before a crash that resulted in a hit-and-run charge against her.

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By
WRAL staff
RALEIGH, N.C. — Video released to WRAL News by the state Department of Administration on Friday shows State Auditor Beth Wood getting into her state-issued car minutes before a crash that resulted in a hit-and-run charge against her.
Wood was involved in a Dec. 8 crash on Salisbury Street near its intersection with Hargett Street. Police said she drove a state-owned Toyota into a parked car, partially rolling up onto its hood. Police arrived at the scene to find the engine running and no driver, according to a police report. Wood was charged Dec. 12 with misdemeanor hit-and-run resulting in property damage and cited for an unsafe movement infraction.

The new video captures three angles outside the auditor's office and shows her walking toward her state-owned car, then getting in and driving away.

Wood first appears walking into the frame at 9:09 p.m. along Hillsborough Street from the east.

The video shows Wood and an unidentified man walking side-by-side to her car. He opens the driver's door and helps her with her purse before getting into the passenger seat.

They drive away, and the car's progress can be seen on video, making a right out of the parking lot onto Hillsborough Street and, at 9:11 p.m., another right onto Salisbury Street.

The first call about the crash came in to 911 at 9:12 p.m.

Wood has said she had been attending a holiday gathering for about two hours prior to the crash. The party was at a building occupied in part by the Edmisten & Webb law firm, at 132 S. Salisbury St., which is two blocks of the auditor's office where Wood was parked.

The crash took place outside the lawyers' office building, and video posted to social media and shared with WRAL News shows Wood ushered into that downtown Raleigh office building moments after the crash.

After that video surfaced, the state notified Wood that her vehicle assignment was temporarily suspended due to the ongoing investigation into the downtown Raleigh crash.

Wood is the only person charged in the crash.

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said Tuesday that investigators hadn't found sufficient evidence to charge anyone else in connection with the incident.

Wood has admitted to hitting a parked car after she left the holiday party. She described the crash as accidental and said she accepted “personal responsibility."

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