Charges against an elected Brunswick County city official earned a second dismissal before apparently disappearing from the court system.
An appeal filed by District Attorney Jon David's office to bring driving while impaired charges and more against Southport Alderman Robert Carroll in front of a jury was denied and cleared.
Officer Bartlomiej Wanczyk of the Boiling Spring Lakes Police Department arrested Carroll on Dec. 13, 2025, in connection with charges of allegedly driving impaired along N.C. 133. The signed magistrate order claimed Carroll failed to drive on the right half of the highway, exceeded the 55-mph speed limit and drove while subject to an impairing substance. Carroll was released on Dec. 14 on an unsecured bond of $500, according
to former court documents.
A disposition hearing was held in May by Judge Scott Ussery. Prior obtained court records stated that during the hearing, Ussery observed dash/body camera footage before allowing Carroll's motion to dismiss and disposing the case completely.
The judge's order details that while Carroll was afforded the right to speak to an attorney or witness, Wanczyk limited him to two contacts plus a potential third contact before taking Carroll's phone away and turning it over to the detention center. Though Carroll made at least one call, his blood was taken before the 30-minute waiting period had elapsed. Wanczyk failed to give Carroll the appropriate time to call witnesses and allow the witnesses to be present.
The court found Wanczyk "flagrantly violated" Carroll's statutory and constitutional rights by not allowing him access to call additional witnesses and in fact "created an arbitrary number of contacts" Carroll could call, according to Ussery's order.
The order to dismiss was signed on June 2, prior to the case's review hearing set for June 9.
On June 11, Assistant District Attorney Madison Parker filed a notice of appeal to Brunswick County Superior Court. The state requested an "appeal de novo of the order," the appeal further stating they did "not agree with the findings of fact and conclusions of law cited in said order."
Despite the state's attempt, Superior Judge Quintin McGee granted dismissal of the case on Aug. 20, 2026. The decision followed a motion to affirm district court judgement, filed June 16.
"The defendant's motion to affirm district court judgment only tasks this court with the duty of determining whether the state's appeal complied with the governing statute. As such, this Court will make no findings as to the merits of the conclusion reached by the district court," McGee's order stated, previously obtained by the StarNews.
McGee said in the order that the state's basis for appeal lacked "sufficient specificity" and was legally insufficient.
With the 10-day appeal filing deadline expiring June 12, the state did not have the opportunity to fix the mistake or refile.
As of Oct. 6, Carroll's case number or filing does not appear in the eCourt system. A county court clerk confirmed the case number no longer exists.
Though the clerk could not confirm details of the case nor if an expunction order was filed, the clerk said there would be no other exception for the case to vanish from the system than expunction.
"An expunction is a legal process to remove a criminal conviction or a criminal charge from a person’s record and to seal or destroy the state’s records of the arrest, charge, and/or conviction," according to nccourts.gov. "A person who has had an expunction granted generally cannot be found guilty of perjury if he or she denies that the arrest, charge or conviction ever happened."
Neither Carroll nor his attorney have responded to the StarNews' attempts for comment as of Oct. 8.
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Savanna Tenenoff covers Brunswick County for the StarNews. Reach her at stenenoff@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: DWI case against Southport city official dropped for second time | Exclusive
