ID a Snake

Question
How do I ID a snake?   I caught this little guy out on the street. I live in the city of Fayetteville, NC. I do not see snakes here. I an no snake expert, but I am familiar with them. I have owned ring necks, boas, and garters (many years ago). I do not know what it is. I have a feeling he is not "nice".
I have no desire what-so-ever in keeping and owning any snakes however, I do not wish to just leave it go for a neighbor to kill or to have it bite some one.
He was crossing the street at night in a housing area. No water, no woods ect. My neighbor started screaming and out I went. I did not recognize the coloration so I scoped it up using a hat. He is quite tiny yet. Less than a foot with a medium build. His scales do not appear to be smooth (please keep in mind though that he is quite small). His base color is a very dark brown on his top back. His sides are banded a dark brown with black bands with thin white edging on the black. His belly is a basic white, but almost looks tiger striped. I cannot tell eye shape, because it is so small and I am not putting my face that close. His head is definiately NOT a diamond flattish shape though.  

Answer
Its going to be hard to do unless you take it to a snake expert or animal authorities. Can you just let it go somewhere away from your neighbour? Keeping it captive will really stress out a wild snake and it probably doesnt want to bite anyone, it just wants to go back to where it belongs. Good luck