Citizen-filed ‘Stalking’ warrant against former school board chairman dismissed, accuser arrested on second ‘Stalking’ charge

On Tuesday, October 26, a misdemeanor “Stalking” warrant filed by Robert L. Shipley III against former Warren County School Board Chairman Arnold M. Williams Jr. was dismissed in Warren County General District Court at the request of the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office. The motion for dismissal cites inconsistencies between information in the citizen-acquired warrant and that shown in two video sources, body-cam footage of responding Front Royal Police officers and security video from the public retail site of Shipley’s initial complaint.

“Review of the body camera of the initial report is not consistent with the complaint presented to the magistrate,” Commonwealth Attorney John Bell wrote in his motion for dismissal. In addition to the police body camera recording, Bell references security camera footage at the Martins Grocery store site of the law enforcement response to Shipley’s complaint, noting, “Neither the original report nor the recorded events on the security cameras are sufficient to establish probable cause for a stalking warrant.”

Presented with this information Judge W. Dale Houff granted the request for dismissal.

Arnold Williams Jr. at School Board meeting in February, prior to his resignation due to his family’s move out of the North River District from which he was elected to serve. Royal Examiner File Photo

Had the case not been dismissed, Bell explained that he would have recused himself from it due to familiarity with one of the involved parties, in this case the defendant and his wife, the latter as an attorney a familiar face around the Warren County Courthouse. “If there was an arguable case with at least evidence for probable cause, I would have asked for a special prosecutor to take the case to trial. Since there was no evidence that even amounted to probable cause, I was ethically obliged to dismiss the case,” Bell told Royal Examiner.

It might also be noted that despite the law enforcement response to Martins, FRPD did not file a warrant from officers’ investigation at the scene. Rather, Shipley presented information to the magistrate requesting the warrant. As FRPD Major Kevin Nicewarner told us, FRPD only served the warrant after the magistrate issued it based on the information provided by Shipley.

And there are more layers to this story. It turns out that Williams’ wife, attorney Nancie Williams, had a previous stalking warrant filed against Shipley. RSW Regional Jail records indicate Shipley was booked into the jail on August 26 on a misdemeanor stalking warrant and released September 1, on a $5,000 bond.

And then on October 27, one day after Williams’ charge was dismissed, the 45-year-old Shipley was again booked into RSW Jail, this time on a charge cited as “Stalk person with protective order” believed related to his August arrest on the stalking of Nancie Williams warrant. A second stalking charge with a protective order in place makes it a felony charge. A bond hearing on that felony charge is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, November 3 (which is Shipley’s 46^th birthday according to the RSW website). A trial on the original misdemeanor stalking charge is slated for December 11, at 1:30 p.m. in Warren County General District Court.

RSW Jail mug shot of Robert Shipley III following his arrest earlier this week, Oct. 27, on a second ‘Stalking’ warrant involving attorney Nancie Williams, Arnold’s wife. Below, Shipley upon being booked into RSW on Aug. 26, following the first ‘Stalking’ warrant filed against him by Nancie Williams following her representation of the opposing side in a civil matter. Photos RSW Jail website

Contacted about the situation, Nancie Williams said that Mr. Shipley had been an opposing party in a civil matter she worked, the result of which she termed “quite agreeable” between the opposing sides. As to any ongoing civil matters involving Shipley, Williams added that she is no longer counsel in the case and has not been since the conclusion of the original case. However, she observed that from her perspective, “Mr. Shipley’s behavior seemed to escalate following the conclusion of the original case.”

Contacted about his entanglement in what had primarily been a legal situation between his wife and Shipley, Arnold Williams told us, “I guess it was his way to remove me from being protection for my wife and boys. And to be falsely accused is really a hard pill to swallow. But it’s good my charge was dismissed and I hope and pray for my family that Mr. Shipley gets the help he needs to resolve his obsession with my wife.”