Oak Island mayor served with assault summons

OAK ISLAND, NC (WWAY) — Oak Island Mayor Betty Wallace was served with a misdemeanor criminal summons this morning. Court records show it is for simple assault against a woman named Cynthia Melton.

Reached by phone this afternoon, Wallace said the summons stems from a family dispute following the death of her father this week. He was buried yesterday, six weeks to the day after Wallace’s mother was buried.

Wallace says Tuesday her sister Lynise wanted to get her belongings from their parents’ house. Wallace says her brother, the executor of their parents’ estate, had told his sisters that no one outside the family should go into the home. Wallace says when Lynise arrived at the house, her friend Cynthia Melton tried to force her way in. Wallace said she stopped Melton from entering and Melton stayed on the front porch, but the situation upset her sister, who filed a report with Oak Island Police.

“I’ve never struck anyone in my life,” Wallace said. “I’ve never grabbed anyone in my life.”

Wallace said this has nothing to do with her job as mayor. Instead, she said, it was a situation between two sisters.

According to court records, Wallace is scheduled to appear in court August 31.