Harris Hollow criminal suspect denied bail
Judge draws attention to extensive criminal history of David Williams
“Rather voluminous criminal history.”
The words of Rappahannock District Court Judge J. Gregory Ashwell, who didn’t take long Tuesday to deny bail for Davis Vandrew Williams, Jr. The suspect is being held at the Rappahannock Shenandoah Warren (RSW) Regional Jail in Front Royal on multiple charges, not the least surrounding a high-speed pursuit on May 29 through Rappahannock, Culpeper and Fauquier counties.
On the morning of the incident, Williams appeared at the Harris Hollow front door of Hampton District Supervisor Keir Whitson shouting that he needed to use the telephone. Whitson immediately suspected the man to be under the influence and told his wife to call 911.
Whitson, at the same time, brandished a firearm in clear view of the man. Williams rapidly retreated to the late model pickup truck he had been driving and sped off at a high rate of speed.
It was later learned that two breakins had occurred in Harris Hollow shortly before the man showed up at Whitson’s door.
In addition, the truck Williams was driving was later determined to have been stolen in Washington, D.C.
After leaving the supervisor’s house, Rappahannock Sheriff’s Captain Jim Jones spotted the truck in the town of Washington, and Sheriff Connie Compton picked it up a short time later heading east on Route 211. After a traffic stop failed, Compton and Jones pursued the truck that traveled at times in excess of 100 miles per hour.
The suspect ultimately crashed into a row of trees at the entrance to Warrenton, where he was taken into custody.
He has since been charged with felony larceny, receiving stolen goods; and two counts of reckless driving, one a felony for failure to stop, the other a general misdemeanor.
A note on his RSW record also indicates that he is a “fugitive from justice.”
In Tuesday’s bond hearing, the 37-year-old Williams appeared in court via videoconference from RSW. While awaiting his appearance, Judge Ashwell referred to Williams’ arraignment on June 2, in which the man used “salty language” including “the f-bomb.”
“You might admonish [your client],” Ashwell advised Williams’ public defender, David Walls.
Williams did not display bad behavior in Tuesday’s bail hearing.
Walls informed the court that Williams lives in Washington D.C., but also has ties to Rappahannock County that were not disclosed. This newspaper was told by a source last week that the suspect had an uncle who lived in the county.
In addition, Walls said, because Williams is HIV positive putting him in the RSWLijcaeinl panRdEeSmIDiEcNcLToiIcuAelLdnAsbeNedDh&aCIznOasrMudroeMudEsRtCoIAhLis already compromised health. (Currently, 55 inmates in the regional jail are being treated for the coronavirus, with 17 more recently recovering).
The judge, however, chose to address Williams’ “rather voluminous criminal history,” with Rappahannock County Attorney Art Goff reviewing Williams’ prior arrest status.
“Mr. Williams was on bond for a May 22 incident in D.C.,” Goff revealed to the judge, “and then came out here on May 29.”
Goff explained that Williams lacks a permanent address — he is homeless in D.C. — and therefore would be difficult to locate were he to disappear. “These are among the reasons to deny bail.”
Which Ashwell ultimately did. Williams could appeal the judge’s ruling, but no decision was made during the hearing.
The suspect’s next court date is
August 4, which is a preliminary hearing.
Sheriff Compton is releasing little information about the burglaries in Harris Hollow and whether they might involve Williams.
She told the Rappahannock News on Tuesday that the investigation is continuing.
[Public Defender] Walls said, because Williams is HIV positive putting him in the RSW jail during the COVID-19 pandemic could be hazardous to his already compromised health.