A General District Court judge dismissed a misdemeanor assault and battery charge against Waynesboro Schools Superintendent Jeffrey Cassell on Tuesday.
According to reporting from The News Virginian, the dismissal came a day after Waynesboro Commonwealth’s Attorney David Ledbetter made the request in writing to drop the charge.
The request for no prosecution came, according to the report, after an earlier meeting with Cassell’s accuser, Neil Williams, and Williams’ attorney.
In his letter to the judge, Ledbetter said, “Mr. Williams asked me to make this request and is in support.”
Williams, the estranged husband of United Way of Greater Augusta executive director Kristi Williams, had alleged, in a citizen-generated warrant, that Cassell, who was appointed superintendent of Waynesboro Public Schools in 2013, “threw his shoulder” into Williams’ face and busted his lip during a confrontation in the parking lot at a United Way Stuff the Bus event in front of the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Waynesboro on Aug. 6.
Williams claimed in an affidavit that Cassell “stalked our household” and engaged in an affair with his wife.
Cassell countered that Neil Williams, in the Aug. 6 incident, “flipped me off” and made a profane remark, then drove his truck to a fire lane in front of the United Way tent.
Feeling threatened, Cassell said he asked Williams to leave and then called 911.
The petition from Cassell also detailed a series of events alleging a pattern of harassment including Neil Williams following him to the school system central office to make accusations and threats, leaving Penthouse magazines on his porch and his vehicle, and filing a lengthy complaint against Cassell with the Waynesboro School Board.
The misdemeanor charge against Cassell had been scheduled to go to trial in Waynesboro General District Court on Oct. 13.
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Chris Graham
