Man charged with driving toward protesters fails to appear in court

Charges stemming from incident at Oceanfront in May

A Chesapeake man accused of driving his truck toward a crowd of protesters at the Oceanfront earlier this year failed to show up for his trial for a second time.

A Virginia Beach General District Court judge on Tuesday issued a nobond warrant for the arrest of Emanuel “Manny” Wilder. After he is taken into custody, Wilder will be held in jail at least until he has a bond hearing.

Wilder, 20, was due in court at 8:30 a.m. on five misdemeanor counts: reckless driving, abusive language, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and failure to appear.

When he didn’t come forward Tuesday after his name was called, Judge Sandra Menago issued the warrant. She also added another failure to appear charge to the ones he already faces.

Wilder failed to show up on time for his last trial date in July, leading Judge Paul Merullo to issue a warrant and charge Wilder with failure to appear. The warrant was withdrawn, however, and a new trial date was set when Wilder arrived an hour later.

The incident Wilder is charged in occurred May 31.

Black Lives Matter 757 organized an event that night at the Oceanfront. Protesters were marching down Atlantic Avenue when witnesses said a man in a red truck revved his engine several times and drove toward a group in the street.

Several videos of the incident were posted on social media afterward. Protesters repeatedly called on police to arrest the driver, but it wasn’t until almost a month later that the charges were issued.

Wilder was allowed to stay free pending his trial.