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Press release

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A civil lawsuit alleging an Orange County Board of Education trustee attacked a 20-year-old driver, throwing him to the ground and choking him, has been dismissed after the driver’s lawyers moved to drop the case.

The lawsuit was filed in 2024 and recounts an alleged road rage incident from 2023 involving OC Board of Education Trustee Ken Williams Jr., who issued a statement through his lawyers to Voice of OC on Wednesday. 

“For his part, Dr. Williams has always disputed Mr. O’Malley’s version of events,” wrote David Libman, Williams’ attorney. 

Court filings claimed that Williams was driving down a residential road in Silverado when Caden O’Malley approached in his vehicle from behind. 

Original filings also claimed that Williams slammed on his brakes multiple times in front of O’Malley’s vehicle before they both pulled over and exited their vehicles.

O’Malley claimed that when he 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 — according to the original complaint filed in court.

On July 13, counsel for O’Malley filed a request for the entire case to be dismissed with prejudice. The Orange County Superior Court entered the dismissal that same day. 

That means the case has been permanently closed, and O’Malley cannot file the same lawsuit again.

“Reporting on this lawsuit has seemed to rely heavily on Mr. O’Malley’s unproven allegations without much consideration of Dr. Williams’ side of the story,” Libman wrote. “Dr. Williams has always maintained that he was acting in self-defense and that Mr. O’Malley was acting as the aggressor.”

“To settle this dispute, the parties entered an agreement in June 2026 in exchange for a mutual release of claims; no money was exchanged,” Libman added.

O’Malley’s attorney declined to comment in a Thursday morning email to Voice of OC.

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 narrowly reelected to the board in 2024 — with 53% “yes” votes in that election, according to OC Registrar of Voters — and his current term lasts until 2028.

Williams is also a primary physician on staff at Hoag Hospital-Newport and Irvine. He recently retired as a reserve Orange County deputy sheriff.