Embattled commissioner cleared of charges

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – William McClure, a St. Johns County commissioner who was wanted for arrest in North Carolina on a charge of obtaining property by false pretense, has been cleared of charges Thursday.

McClure originally told News4Jax it was a misunderstanding over some sort of online purchase or payment made on his cellphone and had been in North Carolina trying to document to a magistrate in North Carolina that the error was corrected.

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According to McClure, he tried to make some sort of online payment and claims to have accidentally typed the wrong numbers, numbers from an account he used to share with a former business and personal partner. McClure said that the woman is trying to make the mistake into a criminal case.

"It was a joint account that we had for about 10 years. So she called me and told me what happened and I immediately rectified the situation and had Capitol One reverse the transaction. I've confirmed with Wells Fargo that they, you know, reversed the transaction. It was a $500 payment. I probably had $250,000 liquid at the time, so I didn't need the $500. I wasn't trying to steal the money. It was an errant payment selection and that's exactly what happened," McClure said.

But the ex-partner, Kristin Bullock, said it's not so simple.

"Over the past several years a bank account that we shared has continually been tapped into by Mr. McClure without authorization. He is not in any way authorized on the account," Bullock said.

Bullock said she looked the other way until the last withdrawal of $500, that one she reported to the Matthews, North Carolina, police department which caused the warrant for McClure to be issued.Â