A civil lawsuit filed last month alleges Orange County Board of Education trustee Ken Williams Jr. attacked a 20-year-old driver on a street in Silverado, throwing him to the ground and choking him.
Court files describe that Williams was driving down a residential road in March 2023 when Caden O’Malley approached in his vehicle from behind.
The filings describe that Williams slammed on his brakes multiple times in front of O’Malley’s vehicle before they both pulled over and exited their vehicles.
When O’Malley approached Williams’ Escalade to take a picture of the license plate, Williams allegedly rushed at him, threw him to the ground, climbed on top of him and started choking him while O’Malley pleaded for him to stop.
“Defendant came rushing at Caden [O’Malley], smacking his cell phone out of his hand, and Caden backed up from Defendant’s violence, asking why Defendant was attacking him,” reads the complaint.
“Defendant left Caden unable to walk, and lying in the middle of a 55 mile per hour roadway, and sped off in his Escalade,” the complaint continues. “Caden, struggling, somehow crawled to the side of the road to call for emergency medical assistance. Caden suffered and continues to suffer significant physical and mental injuries from Defendant’s violent attack.”
The lawsuit claims O’Malley suffers from personal injuries in addition to wage loss, hospital and medical expenses and a loss of earning capacity. He is seeking monetary damages — the exact amount is unknown at this time, but the filings describe that the amount exceeds $25,000.
O’Malley’s lawyer refused to comment on the case.
Williams, who acknowledged the lawsuit, told Voice of OC that his political opponents are attacking his personal and professional career, but he didn’t confirm or deny any allegations.
“I have an unsullied and exemplary 20 year career as a sworn law-enforcement reserve officer with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department,” Williams said in an email to Voice of OC on Feb. 14. “The woke left attacks me because I am pro-law enforcement, and oppose defunding the police or weakening criminal laws.”
Williams declined to comment on the case directly.
“I’d love to talk but I can’t on advice of legal counsel,” Williams said in a Thursday voicemail.
The complaint was filed last month, but the alleged incident occurred on March 11, 2023. There is a hearing scheduled for Aug. 5, 2024.
Williams serves on the Orange County Board of Education in District 3, which includes Brea, Irvine, Orange, Villa Park, Yorba Linda and portions of Anaheim, Lake Forest and Tustin.
He was elected in 2020 and is up for reelection this year on the March 5 primary ballot. He is a strong proponent of charter schools and parental rights.
[Read: Voters to Decide Who Sits on The Orange County Board of Education]
Williams is also a primary physician on staff at St. Joseph Hospital, Hoag Hospital-Newport and Irvine and the Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
In his email, Williams said he’s being attacked for his stances on education.
“In my 28 years as an elected county board of education trustee, my woke political opponents now attack my conservative governance positions of ‘back-to-basics,’ approving strong public charter schools, advocating parental choice, protecting the innocence of children, securing the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their children, anti-drug policies, and advocacy for disabled children.”
Angelina Hicks is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
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