Cantey guilty in vehicle accident

LUMBERTON â€" City Councilman John Cantey pleaded guilty this week to driving without insurance during a car accident just before Christmas. He was ordered to pay a fine of $100, sentenced to 45 days in jail, which was suspended, and put on a year’s probation.

Cantey’s attorney, David Branch, entered the guilty plea on Cantey’s behalf on Tuesday at an appearance before District Court Judge Judith Daniels.

“I accepted responsibility for it,” Cantey told The Robesonian on Wednesday. He said he plans to pay the fine immediately.

Cantey, 49, of Bullard Street, was leaving the movie theater on Roberts Avenue on Dec. 23 about 4:55 p.m. He was turning left out of the parking lot onto Roberts Avenue when his car collided with another vehicle headed east toward Fayetteville Road, according to a police report.

The driver of the other car, Gracie Page, 63, of Oak Island, was driving 35 mph â€" the speed limit on Roberts Avenue, according to the report. Cantey was driving about 5 mph when he pulled out of the parking lot.

Cantey said that he and Page called the Lumberton Police Department, which sent an officer to the scene. Police estimated damages of $500 to Cantey’s vehicle and $600 to Page’s, the report said.

According to Cantey, when the officer arrived, he checked the drivers’ insurances. Page’s Honda was insured, but Cantey’s 2006 Chrysler was not. Cantey told the officer that he was insured.

Cantey told The Robesonian that just a few weeks before the accident he had leased the Chrysler on a trial basis. Before the Chrysler, Cantey had leased a Camry and before that a Cadillac. With each car exchange, Cantey said he also transferred insurance between companies.

“The ball got dropped with one of the companies and the transfer was never made back to the Chrysler,” Cantey said.

Cantey said the officer checked his records and found he did have insurance on a Camry and a Cadillac, but not on the Chrysler. “I was paying insurance on two cars that were still on the car lot,” Cantey said.

The Robesonian attempted to contact Page for an interview, but she was unavailable.