A 38-year-old Washington man is sitting in the Pitt County Detention Center without bond after ECU Health police say he sexually assaulted a woman and then injured an officer who came to arrest him. Richard Williams was taken into custody on August 29, facing charges that include sexual battery, assault on a law enforcement officer, and assault on an officer causing serious injury.
According to WCTI, ECU Health police said Williams sexually assaulted a woman and injured an officer while that officer was serving him an arrest warrant. Court records cited by the station indicate ECU Health Police Officer R. Davenport was serving the warrant on Williams when the confrontation turned violent, and that Williams bit Davenport on the neck during the struggle.
The arrest warrant, as reported by WCTI, accuses Williams of grabbing and squeezing a woman's buttocks by force and against her will. Under North Carolina law, that kind of forced sexual contact — which does not require skin-to-skin contact or penetration — falls under the state's definition of sexual battery, according to DeMent Askew. Sexual battery is charged as a Class A1 misdemeanor in North Carolina, the most serious misdemeanor classification the state has, carrying up to 150 days in jail depending on a defendant's prior record, per the North Carolina General Assembly.
Officer Suffered Broken Hand, Bite Wound Requiring Stitches
Court records indicate Davenport suffered a broken hand and a bite wound that required stitches during the encounter with Williams. That level of injury is what elevated one of the assault counts against Williams to a Class F felony, since North Carolina law treats serious bodily injury inflicted on an officer performing official duties as a significantly more serious offense than a routine assault charge, according to the North Carolina General Assembly.
A separate, lesser count — assault on a law enforcement officer without serious bodily injury — is classified as a Class I felony under state law. Prosecutors appear to be pursuing both counts against Williams, reflecting the two distinct legal thresholds involved in his alleged conduct toward Davenport. If convicted on the more serious Class F felony charge, Williams would face a presumptive active prison sentence of 33 to 41 months, depending on his prior criminal record level, according to the Knox Law Center.
Hospital Police Carry Full Arrest Authority
ECU Health Police Department officers hold full sworn law enforcement authority equivalent to municipal police, allowing them to make arrests and execute warrants across ECU Health's facilities throughout the region, according to ECU Health. That authority is precisely what put Davenport in position to serve the warrant on Williams in the first place.
The presence of armed, sworn officers at hospital facilities has become a bigger part of the healthcare landscape in North Carolina in recent years. A state law that took effect in 2024 under House Bill 125 requires armed law enforcement officers to be present in hospital emergency departments statewide, a response to rising rates of violence against healthcare workers, per the Carolina Journal.
No Bond Under State's Pretrial Integrity Act
Williams remains held without bond, a status tied to North Carolina's Pretrial Integrity Act. Under that law, a magistrate's authority to set initial bail is limited for certain violent offenses, requiring a district court judge instead to determine conditions of pretrial release, according to the UNC School of Government. That statute is designed to mandate judicial review in high-risk and violent felony arrests before a defendant can be released.
Williams is being held at the Pitt County Detention Center in Greenville, which operates under the Pitt County Sheriff's Office and serves as the primary facility holding felony and misdemeanor arrest subjects pending judicial bail hearings for Pitt County District and Superior courts. If Williams is ultimately convicted of sexual battery, a court could also order him to register on the state sex offender registry if it finds he poses a danger to the community, under North Carolina General Statute § 14-27.33(c).
Several details of the case remain unclear, including the specific circumstances surrounding the initial sexual battery allegation, the exact location where the warrant was served, and Davenport's current recovery status. Williams' upcoming court appearances in Pitt County District Court have not yet been reported.
