Sunday, April 27, 2025

Police: Intoxicated driver crashes into Williams-Sonoma in Merchants Square

Police say a drunken driver crashed into the Williams-Sonoma building in Merchants Square early Sunday morning. (WYDaily/Sarah Fearing)
Police say a drunken driver crashed into the Williams-Sonoma building in Merchants Square early Sunday. (WYDaily/Sarah Fearing)

A 21-year-old woman was arrested early Sunday after she crashed her car into the Williams-Sonoma building in downtown Williamsburg, police said.

Courtney Elizabeth Niles, 21, of Williamsburg is charged with driving under the influence, unauthorized use of a vehicle, driving with a revoked license and failure to wear a seatbelt.

Williamsburg Police were called to the 400 block of W. Duke of Gloucester Street around 3 a.m. Sunday, police spokesman Maj. Greg Riley said Monday.

There officers found a single-vehicle crash at Williams-Sonoma, 440 W. Duke of Gloucester Street. Niles, the driver, was taken to Riverside Doctors’ Hospital in Williamsburg, Riley said.

Through investigation, police determined Niles was driving while intoxicated. She was issued a summons for driving under the influence at the hospital.

Later, the investigating officer discovered Niles allegedly didn’t have permission to use the vehicle from its registered owner, and her license had been previously revoked, Riley said.

As of 5 p.m. Monday, Niles had not been served with the additional warrants for the other charges, including unauthorized use of a vehicle, driving with a revoked license and failure to wear a seatbelt.

Sarah Fearing
Sarah Fearing
Sarah Fearing is the Assistant Editor at WYDaily. Sarah was born in the state of Maine, grew up along the coast, and attended college at the University of Maine at Orono. Sarah left Maine in October 2015 when she was offered a job at a newspaper in West Point, Va. Courts, crime, public safety and civil rights are among Sarah’s favorite topics to cover. She currently covers those topics in Williamsburg, James City County and York County. Sarah has been recognized by other news organizations, state agencies and civic groups for her coverage of a failing fire-rescue system, an aging agriculture industry and lack of oversight in horse rescue groups. In her free time, Sarah enjoys lazing around with her two cats, Salazar and Ruth, drinking copious amounts of coffee and driving places in her white truck.

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