Hunter
01/08/21
Coralville Police have dropped OWI charges against one of two Cornell College football coaches after it was determined he was not behind the wheel.
The original police report indicated that 22-year-old Spencer Williams of Cedar Falls had been involved in a property damage accident on the 200 block of The Coralville Strip just before 10:30pm New Year’s Day. Williams left the scene before officers could arrive. A witness claimed to have seen Williams driving a Jeep Commander from The Vine to Kum & Go down the street.
Williams was later located by Iowa City Police and arrested after what they described as a brief foot chase. He allegedly admitted to being at The Vine and Kum & Go earlier in the night. Police say he showed multiple signs of intoxication and registered a blood alcohol content of .143% on a Datamaster test.
Williams was initially charged with Operating While Intoxicated. However, KCJJ has learned from Coralville Police that the witness who had identified Williams as the driver of the wrecked vehicle was intoxicated. Further investigation determined that Williams was not the driver and the charge was dropped from OWI to public intoxication, a simple misdemeanor.
The former offensive lineman was a member of the Iowa football team from 2016-18 before joining Cornell’s staff last August as a tight ends and running backs coach.
Coralville Police also arrested Cornell wide receivers coach Christopher Ator the same night. Police noticed the 28-year-old Mt. Vernon resident sitting in his Jeep Renegade in the nearby Hardee’s parking lot watching the wrecked vehicle getting towed and asked him if he saw the driver. Ator said he’d been watching football with a friend at the Vine and came back to pick up his friend at Kum & Go. That’s when police noticed vomit on Ator’s floorboard.
Police say Ator admitted to drinking two Blue Moon beers at the Vine, and he showed multiple signs of intoxication. His BAC was allegedly over the legal limit for driving, and he was also arrested for OWI. Those charges are still pending.
Ator joined the Cornell staff in 2020.