Head of Camden Parking Authority charged with domestic violence

The director of the Camden Parking Authority strangled a woman with a belt and threatened to kill her during a breakup that turned violent, police said Friday.

Willie E. Hunter Sr., 56, was charged with aggravated assault by strangulation and related crimes Nov. 29, according to court records.

Hunter’s attorney Timothy Farrow declined to comment. The Camden County Parking Authority could not immediately be reached for comment.

The victim, whom police did not identify, told police Hunter attacked her as she tried to end their relationship, according to the probable cause affidavit for his arrest. When she asked Hunter to leave the home, Hunter grew irate and began to strangle the woman with a broken belt, the affidavit said.

Camden County police officers responded to the home on the 3100 block of Fremont Avenue in the city’s Stockton neighborhood, where the woman told police Hunter had attacked her after an argument turned physical, authorities said.

When she told Hunter to leave the home, he grew angry and grabbed her by both arms and threw her against a wall, causing her to fall and bruise her left hip, according to the affidavit. The woman attempted to defend herself with a belt, the document said, but Hunter managed to grab it and wrap it around her neck.

During the fight, the woman told police, Hunter said, “You’re going to make me kill you.”

As Hunter pulled the belt around her neck, the woman told police, she felt on the edge of losing consciousness. She also suffered bruising to her upper left thigh, injuries to both of her arms, pain in her throat, and vision problems, the affidavit said.

Hunter, who has served as director of the parking authority since 2012, has dealt with controversy in the past. In 2019, a former authority employee filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against the agency and Hunter, her former boss, alleging public corruption, bid-rigging, and payroll fraud. The woman, who is of Greek heritage, also said Hunter discriminated against her because of her ethnicity. And she said she faced retaliation for disclosing her concerns and was later fired.

The suit was settled for an undisclosed in October 2022 with no admission of wrongdoing.