The Rev William Adams, Rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher NC has entered into a plea deal in a road rage incident in Florida and has been given a year of probation. He was charged with pointing a semi-automatic pistol from his red 2014 Corvette at a woman and her adult son near Palm City, FL.
From the Palm Beach Post
In about three hours of dashboard camera video, Adams adamantly denied waving a firearm. He insisted the gun, which he owned legally and for which he had a concealed-weapon permit, never came out from under his seat.
Adams initially was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
On Friday morning in Martin County court, he is set to instead plead “no contest” to a charge of improper exhibition of a firearm, a first-degree misdemeanor, assistant state attorney Richard Bodek said Tuesday.
“Given the high stakes involved with respect to these accusations, Mr. Adams will be entering into a no-contest plea to a misdemeanor. This means that Mr. Adams maintains his innocence, but is entering into the plea because it is in his best interest,” Adams’ attorney, Brian H. Mallonee of Fort Pierce, said via email Tuesday.
Adams still is listed as rector at Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher, a small town about 20 miles south of Asheville.
Adams “is on leave for a few weeks allowing him to focus on his family,” the church’s July 15 newsletter said. “We ask that you refrain from gossip or judgment and to hold him and his family in prayer.”