A Rincon-raised singer who has topped the country music charts was booked into the Chatham County jail Thursday, a day after he was indicted on charges of making terroristic threats and elder abuse.
William Matthew “Billy” Currington, 39, surrendered at the Chatham County jail just before 3:30 p.m. Thursday, said Cpl. Rhonda Bryant-Elleby, Chatham County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman. Jail records show he was released on bond about 7:15 p.m. Thursday, a day after Chatham County Superior Court Judge Penny Haas Freesemann issued a bench warrant on the charges that stemmed from an April 15 confrontation with a 70-year-old Tybee Island resident.
Freesemann set Currington’s bond at $25,000 after a hearing in chambers with chief assistant district attorney Greg McConnell and the singer’s defense attorney, Alex Zipperer, in what court officials described as a normal bond hearing, expect the state agreed to waive the usual 48-hour delay for such hearings. Zipperer could not be immediately reached for comment.
Chatham County District Attorney Meg Heap said a condition of the bond was that Currington not have any contact with the alleged victim, Charles Harvey Ferelle.
The case, Heap added, would be scheduled for a future date in Superior Court.
The charges Currington faces are both felonies and carry penalties that include one- to five-year prison sentences.
A Savannah-Chatham police report stated Ferelle, identified as a charter boat captain, told officers he was giving a tour about 1 p.m. April 15 when a man started screaming at him from 159 San Marco Drive, a home Currington owns in a gated neighborhood near Tybee Island.
Eventually, according to the report, the suspect, Currington, followed Ferrelle to a Tybee Island restaurant, exited his boat and threatened to harm him.
The indictment stated Currington made those threats against Ferrelle “with the purpose of terrorizing” him.
Currington, a 1992 graduate of Effingham County High School, has recorded six No. 1 country hits since 2005, including “Good Directions,” “People Are Crazy,” and “Pretty Good at Drinking Beer.”