Davon Williams, who is running unopposed for the Englewood Schools Board of Education, is a twice-convicted felon for theft with an active arrest warrant, records show.
Affidavits from Denver and Adams County courts, as well as records from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, show a list of charges going back more than a decade. They include felony convictions for aggravated motor vehicle theft and theft. Court records show he was originally sentenced to probation in both felony cases, but probation was revoked in 2017 and he was resentenced to 90 days in jail in each case, with the sentences to be served simultaneously.
There is also an arrest warrant for Williams that has been active since January 2020, according to the Adams County Combined Court Records Department.
The school board election is Nov. 7, and Williams is seeking one of two open seats. School boards make policies at the local level, including oversight of district budgets and hiring of superintendents. Englewood school board members are not paid for their service, although they may request reimbursement for board-related expenses such as mileage. Williams is uncontested for a four-year term that will begin weeks after the November election.
Records show that Williams’ active arrest warrant is for a 2019 allegation of “aggravated motor vehicle theft second degree” in Westminster. According to the affidavit, a buyer purchased a car from Williams and it broke down months later. The buyer arranged for Williams to tow it to a mechanic’s shop. After some discussion of Williams buying back the vehicle while it was allegedly in the shop, contact ceased. The buyer’s next knowledge of the vehicle’s whereabouts came six days later when Denver police notified the buyer that the vehicle had been found in a parking garage, the affidavit says.
Representatives from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and the Westminster Police Department said any agency can act on the arrest warrant if Williams is placed in front of an officer and there is reason to run his name. He could be taken into the custody of whatever local agency might arrest him and transported to Adams County.
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Additionally, records show that Williams was convicted in Denver for an aggravated motor vehicle theft he committed in 2012 when he purchased a 2006 Porsche Cayenne with a check that bounced when the car dealer attempted to deposit it. The dealer later located the car at the Douglas County home of Williams’ parents, according to the case affidavit.
Records also show Williams was convicted in Denver of another felony theft that the affidavit says he committed in late 2013. The affidavit shows the victim claimed Williams took $6,500 of his money under the false pretenses of using it as an investment for “an after party for a talent” in connection with a Williams business, D and A Entertainment.
That theft case was prosecuted in 2014, records show. Williams attempted to appeal his conviction in 2016, but the register of actions in the case shows the appeal was dismissed. A 2017 document from the Colorado Court of Appeals shows appeals for both the 2012 and 2013 felonies were listed as dismissed.
Williams also attempted to sue the victim of the 2013 theft for defamation, but according to the register of actions in that case, the lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice in 2017.
Williams did not respond to multiple requests for comment, including phone calls to two phone numbers and emails sent to two email addresses with messages describing what topics this story would cover. The phone number listed on his school board candidate profile appears to have been disconnected.
While Williams did not respond to the Englewood Herald directly, on Oct. 27, the day after initial publication of this story, a two-part post about the situation appeared on his X (formerly Twitter) feed, attributed to his “Media Team.”
It reads:
“Preliminary statement from the team-
“Everyone has a past, and the candidate is no different. He has learned his past and taken steps forward to change his life for the better to include becoming a real estate investor and becoming a member of the Grammys.
“He also has become a beloved member of his community over the years. As to the current events, they are unfounded and he and his team are discussing next steps. No further comment about this issue.
“Media Team”
Under each candidate profile on the Englewood Schools website is listed the qualifications that candidates must meet to run for school board. Those qualifications include: “Be a registered voter in the school district for at least 12 consecutive months before the election; not have been convicted of committing a sexual offense against a child; and because school director elections are nonpartisan, candidates may not campaign as members of a political party.”
Duane Tucker, president of the Englewood Schools Board of Education, was asked by the Englewood Herald to comment on this story. Tucker responded in writing.
“The qualifications for candidates for school director are established by Colorado Revised Statutes Section 22-31-107,” Tucker wrote. “Candidates are required to file an Affidavit of School Director Candidate on Qualifications for Office with the Designated Election Official (DEO). The DEO is allowed to rely on the Affidavit and the candidate’s certifications therein without further investigation.”
When asked if someone with multiple felony convictions and an outstanding arrest warrant is qualified to be on a school board, Colorado Association of School Boards Executive Director Dr. Jubal Yennie replied: “That’s not for us to answer, that’s probably a question for the voters,” as the organization doesn’t have legislative or judicial authority to set qualifications.
Williams is one of two school board candidates running unopposed in the November election. The other candidate is Katie Wilberding Cross. A check of state and federal court records found no misdemeanors, felonies or civil litigation cases involving Wilberding Cross.
In both his school board candidate profile and on his LinkedIn page, Williams describes himself as a “serial entrepreneur, seed investor, musician, current members of the Recording Academy and the Managing General Partner of a multinational company called Canberra Partners.”
On his LinkedIn page, the 33-year-old Williams says he is the managing general partner, managing partner, principal owner, owner-CEO, managing director, president of operations/partner, or owner of two dozen named businesses.
On the Englewood Schools website, when asked why he is running for school board, Willams wrote that it is “because I feel a desire to better my community further than I have currently.”
He added: “After participating in a historic referendum with 1400+ of my neighbors to try and stop over-development by an overzealous city, I figured I would turn my talents to the school board, to see what good work I could participate in and hopefully expand on, after seeing some of this districts test results and graduation rates.”
Williams and Gary Kozacek, with whom he shares an address, were at the center of a petition fight to stop the rezoning of the Sam’s Automotive site, where a proposed residential development is now on hold due to a lawsuit Williams and Kozacek recently filed against the city and city clerk in Arapahoe County District Court. Documents show the lawsuit is ongoing.
Williams, Kozacek and fellow Englewood residents Kurt Suppes and Sandy Kettelhut also filed a petition about a week ago for a referendum to prevent changes to the city’s Unified Development Code, a density-increasing ordinance known as CodeNext, from taking effect. The CodeNext plan won a 4-3 approval vote from the city council on Sept. 25. The deadline for referendum petition signatures was late on Oct. 26 and the group failed to turn them in.
Williams has a history of engaging in civil litigation, including a lawsuit he filed against various corporate and governmental entities in 2021. The court later summarized:
“Mr. Williams’ company, KW Lane Ltd., acquired for less than $200 certain mineral rights at a tax lien foreclosure sale. Defendants are the surface owners. Mr. Williams believes he is entitled to access his mineral estate via defendants’ property. It should be noted that the properties involved are near or around the highly developed land just south of the giant Park Meadows Mall, south of Denver, in or near the City of Lone Tree. He also alleges that the City Defendants are interfering with his rights by requiring the surface owners’ consent to explore for minerals and by ‘plac[ing] arbitrary rules . . . to issue us a special use permit to drill properties to determine mineral content under.’”
According to documentation from the case, the “court finds that plaintiff acted with objective bad faith in bringing and prosecuting this case and that sanctions are also an appropriate exercise of the court’s inherent authority.” Williams was ordered to pay $115,000 in legal fees to various defendants in that case, records show.
Additionally, records show Williams sued the City and County of Denver after he allegedly was injured in a 2012 slip and fall in the Simonet Detention Center, the downtown jail. Records show that suit was dismissed in 2013.
This article has been updated to include a social media statement from the candidate.