Delco D.A.’s Office Will Weigh In on Tire Slashing at Seth Williams’ House
District Attorney Seth Williams | Photo by Matt Rourke/AP
At the rate things are going, a cable network might be able to get away with a 24/7 Seth Williams channel.
The sky has been falling on Philadelphia’s embattled district attorney ever since the Inquirer reported last week that Williams forgot to disclose more than $160,000 worth of personal and professional gifts he received between 2010 and 2015. The gifts ran the gamut from a new roof to fancy vacations for his family to this, uh, striking portrait.
The paper also reported that federal agents have been interviewing members of the D.A.’s staff. (The website Philadelinquency, meanwhile, noted that the Water Department was preparing to shut off the water to Williams’s house. Earlier this summer, Williams told Philadelphia magazine that he has to work a handful of side jobs to “eke out an existence,” despite the $175,572 he makes annually as district attorney.)
And on Monday, the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that it’s been contacted about an odd little incident that occurred last fall outside of Williams’s home in Overbrook.
The Inquirer reported in April that someone slashed four tires on two security vehicles that belonged to the D.A.’s Office. The city had to shell out close to a thousand bucks to replace the tires, but the apparent act of vandalism wasn’t actively probed by Philadelphia police at the time.
Rumors swirled in law enforcement circles that the tire slashing was the work of a scorned girlfriend of Williams’s. But when Philadelphia magazine asked him in June about the incident, he demurred, saying only: “Another neighbor’s tires were slashed, but [the Inquirer] didn’t report that.”
But Philly detectives are now actively investigating the tire slashing, according to law enforcement sources. One source said that an arrest, however, isn’t imminent. Whether charges are ultimately filed will apparently be up to prosecutors in Delco.
“We have been contacted about the case and are awaiting a formal referral,” Emily Harris, a spokeswoman for the Delaware County D.A.’s Office, wrote in an email. When asked for a comment, Williams’s spokesman, Cameron Kline, referred a reporter back to the Delco D.A.’s Office.
Williams was on vacation when the controversy surrounding the gifts he forgot to disclose officially hit the fan. He did send an email to his supporters on Monday, thanking them for standing by him. He also offered a mea culpa for the gifts fiasco:
“One of my requirements as an elected official is to fully disclose all gifts and or in kind services I receive, even those from my closest friends and family. I take full responsibility on failing to disclose what was required. We’ve taken the proper steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again and will be fully compliant moving forward.”
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