A former Congressman was taken into custody in Lee County after a Collier County judge issued a warrant when he did not appear for a hearing.
David Madison Cawthorn, 30, commonly known as Madison Cawthorn, of Cape Coral, was taken into custody in Lee County on Sept. 10.
The same day, Collier County Judge Deborah Cunningham issued a bench warrant for his arrest when Cawthorn did not appear for his arraignment.
According to court documents, Cawthorn on Aug. 19 received a citation from Naples Police as he drove near the 900 block of Ninth Street.
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The citation indicates he did not have a valid driver’s license. It was his second traffic citation in Collier County in just over a year.
On April 15, 2024, Florida Highway Patrol troopers said Cawthorn failed to move over for a stopped vehicle and rear-ended a trooper’s cruiser near Mile Marker 60 on Interstate 75.
According to that citation, that wreck resulted in $30,000 worth of property damage and minor injury to a trooper.
Court records show that Cawthorn was convicted of that offense on May 6 and ordered to complete a 12-hour defensive driving school certification by July 10.
Before his congressional career, Cawthorn was involved in a far more serious accident that left him partially paralyzed. Cawthorn, 18 at the time, was a passenger in an April 3, 2014 crash on Interstate 4 near DeLand, in Volusia County.
Cawthorn — a pro-Trump Republican — was elected to North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District in 2020. He lost in a 2022 primary and has since moved to Cape Coral.
Cawthorn, who does not have an attorney listed for his most recent offense, did not answer a call for comment on Sept. 11.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Bluesky @tomasfrodriguez.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Madison Cawthorn arrested on bench warrant for failure to appear