The Charleston Gazette - Police Blotter

Twenty Wayne High students barred from grad ceremony

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:21:17 -0400

WAYNE, W.Va. -- About 20 Wayne High School students are barred from the schools graduation ceremony because of a senior prank that damaged the building. Media outlets report that the Wayne County Board of Education suspended the students from school prope...

Woman killed by train in New River Gorge

(Staff reports) — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:24:47 -0400

FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. -- National Park Service rangers and CSX railroad detectives are trying to determine the identity of a woman who was struck and killed by a freight train as she walked along CSX mainline tracks in the New River Gorge National Rive...

Summers man killed in Fayette wreck

(Staff reports) — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:31:01 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Summers County man was killed after another driver hit his car head-on near Camp Branch Road on W.Va. 61 in Fayette County. The 69-year-old driver was pronounced dead at the scene after Jeffery Hilewitz, 53, of Cannelton, crossed in...

State lawyer, investigator face conspiracy charges

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Mon, 20 May 2013 08:40:31 -0400

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. -- An attorney and a private investigator face charges of conspiring to interfere with a witness in a criminal case against a former Shinnston policeman.Media outlets report that Wheeling attorney Paul J. Harris and Barbour County private...

Ridgeley mayor charged with misusing purchase card

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Mon, 20 May 2013 08:58:25 -0400

RIDGELEY, W.Va. -- Ridgeley Mayor Jim Twigg faces charges of misusing the citys purchase card.Media outlets report that a Mineral County grand jury indicted Twigg on eight felony counts of fraudulent or unauthorized use of a government-issued purchase card...

Police seek suspect in Sunday morning shooting

rustymarks@wvgazette.com (Rusty Marks) — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:36:57 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Charleston police are trying to find out who shot a man on the citys West Side early Sunday. Sgt. Tony Hazelett of the Charleston Police Department said Danny Dickerson, 21, of Charleston, was at the intersection of Glenwood Ave...

Rafter who fell into Elk River found safe

(Staff reports) — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:39:16 -0400

CLENDENIN, W.Va. -- A 19-year-old Clendenin area man who fell out of a raft in the Elk River near Queen Shoals on Monday and went missing for more than two hours was found safe walking along railroad tracks on the outskirts of Clendenin. Clendenin V...

Body found in Elkview; man identified by authorities

(Staff reports) — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:18:28 -0400

ELKVIEW, W.Va. -- Police, who suspect a potential homicide, have identified the man found in a mobile home in northern Kanawha County on Monday afternoon.

David Lemons, 28, ...

Two men stole purse in Dunbar, police say

(Staff reports) — Sun, 19 May 2013 19:22:58 -0400

DUNBAR, W.Va. -- Police are looking for two men who allegedly stole a womans purse inside a Dunbar fast food restaurant earlier this month. Just before 9 a.m. May 5, a woman left her purse inside the McDonalds on Dunbar Avenue and a clerk found it. One sus...

Man shot in leg on West Side, police say

(Staff reports) — Sun, 19 May 2013 19:32:45 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A man was shot in the leg early Sunday morning on the West Side, according to Kanawha County Metro 911 dispatchers. The shooting occurred at about midnight near the intersection of Glenwood Avenue and Grant Street, dispatchers said.The...

Family holds onto hope for new info in mans slaying

(Travis Crum) — Sun, 19 May 2013 21:15:18 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Annette Snow has no doubt that Charleston police will solve the slaying of her ex-husband, a likable 7-Eleven district manager with no enemies that she knew of. Next week will mark the one-year anniversary of the date boaters found th...

Charleston Police praised for support of veterans

rustymarks@wvgazette.com (Rusty Marks) — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:00:00 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Charleston Police Department Cpl. Jeff Setser was driving down the road when he was told hed been called to active duty with the West Virginia National Guard. "It was a week before Thanksgiving when I found out," s...

A year later, still no sign of former Logan County corrections officer

(Kate White) — Sat, 18 May 2013 15:56:05 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Kanawha County judge wants police to continue looking for a former Logan County jail guard who has avoided sentencing for almost a year. Rafael Beatty, 60, pleaded guilty in 2011 to a fraudulent schemes charge. According to his indic...

Rand murder suspect among those indicted

(Staff reports) — Sat, 18 May 2013 17:11:54 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Rand man accused of gunning down his friend in the street in February is among 78 people indicted by a Kanawha County grand jury this week. Tremale Leon Straughter, 29, of Bluefield Avenue, was indicted on charges of murder and wanto...

Wyoming drug suspects home yields guns, cash, pills

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:39:27 -0400

MCGRAWS, W.Va. -- Police in Wyoming County say theyve confiscated 100 firearms, $580,000 in cash and hundreds of pills from the home of a drug suspect. Sheriff Randall Aliff told media outlets that officers on Thursday found 30 firearms and $570,000 ins...

Former Smithers fire chief, wife indicted in theft schemes

(Staff reports) — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:27:09 -0400

FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. -- The former chief of the Smithers Volunteer Fire Department and his wife were indicted by a Fayette County grand jury this week. On Wednesday, former Chief Timothy M. Whittington was indicted on one count of felony embe...

Clay County man found guilty in meth sale

(Staff reports) — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:37:30 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A federal jury found a Clay County man guilty of selling more than 50 grams of methamphetamine on Thursday, according to U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. Raymond Hersman, 47, of Wallback, faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison whe...

Suspicious package found at McDowell federal prison

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:34:19 -0400

WELCH, W.Va. -- Authorities are investigating a suspicious package discovered at a federal prison in Southern West Virginia. Federal Correctional Institution McDowell spokesman Glenn Friss said employees of the prisons mailroom flagged the package during...

Woman gets 30-35 years for fatal botched robbery

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:38:58 -0400

BEECH BOTTOM, W.Va. -- A Beech Bottom woman is going to prison for participating in a botched robbery in which an accomplice was killed. Melody Fisher, 41, received a 30-year sentence for first-degree robbery and a one- to five-year sentence for conspirac...

State police find weapons cache

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:48:28 -0400

BELLE, W.Va. -- State police with a search warrant say they found an estimated 100 weapons at a home in Belle.In an investigation that was still unfolding Wednesday night, media reports say the discovery also included methamphetamine, marijuana and cash. O...

Transcript: W.Va. teenagers planned friends death

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:58:53 -0400

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Transcripts of a secret plea hearing show a teenager involved in the 2012 stabbing death of a Star City girl planned the slaying with an accomplice. But their motive remains unclear.Sixteen-year-old Rachel Shoaf pleaded guilty to secon...

St. Albans man gets 10 years for child porn

(Staff reports) — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:27:39 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A St. Albans man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison on a child pornography conviction. Jonathan Douglas Layne, 54, also will be supervised for 20 years after his release, according to a news release from U.S. Attor...

Fayette woman faces child neglect charge

(Staff reports) — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:53:44 -0400

OAK HILL, W.Va. -- An Oak Hill woman was arrested Thursday after her child was found wandering near a busy street. Fayette County sheriffs deputies went to Terry Avenue at about 10 a.m. Thursday after getting calls about a toddler wandering in the street,...

Man linked to Ky. death arrested in Charleston

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:42:00 -0400

ASHLAND, Ky. -- An Ashland man has been charged in connection to a murder case involving a man whose remains were found last month. The Kentucky State Police said Thursday that James E. Mcwain, 54, was arrested Monday in Charleston, and is awaiting extrad...

Cleveland man arrested in Marmet on drug charges

(Staff reports) — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:59:54 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- An Ohio man who police say possessed prescription pills and marijuana was arrested Thursday morning in Marmet. Eugene J. Lobaugh, 27, of Cleveland, was pulled over by Kanawha County sheriffs deputies and charged with two counts of pos...

Oak Hill man indicted in cousins shooting death

(Staff reports) — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:02:02 -0400

FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. -- A man accused of fatally shooting his cousin was indicted by a Fayette County grand jury Wednesday. Terreque Alj Gray, 23, of Oak Hill, was indicted on one count of murder and one count of wanton endangerment with a firearm. Police...

Internet star Kai arrested on N.J. murder charge

(Staff reports) — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:11:43 -0400

CLARK, N.J. -- A homeless drifter who says he is from Raleigh County and who gained national attention after police said he stopped an attacker in California, has been arrested and charged with murder over the death of a New Jersey lawyer. Authorities...

Two injured in I-64 truck-motorcycle wreck

(Staff reports) — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:07:46 -0400

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two people were taken to the hospital after a motorcycle hit a truck on Interstate 64 coming into Charleston on Wednesday morning. The wreck happened near the Montrose Drive exit shortly before 9:40 a.m. Sgt....

Arrest made in West Side slashing incident

rustymarks@wvgazette.com (Rusty Marks) — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:27:48 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Charleston man is in jail for allegedly slashing another man with a razor blade last week on the citys West Side. According to a criminal complaint on file in Kanawha County Magistrate Court, Johnny Essex, 54, of 1238 1/2 Wash...

Man arrested after allegedly pulling samurai sword on deputy

rustymarks@wvgazette.com (Rusty Marks) — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:07:04 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Kanawha County man was arrested late Tuesday after allegedly pulling a samurai sword on a Kanawha County sheriffs deputy. Capt. J.S. Bailes was patrolling Raven Drive in Rand about 10 p.m. Tuesday when he saw a man walking...

Hunt still on for Mexican linked to Kanawha sniper case

(Kate White) — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:05:41 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The case will remain open against an alleged Mexican drug lord with ties to the 2003 Kanawha County sniper slayings, a Kanawha judge said Wednesday. After speaking with prosecutors, Circuit Judge Duke Bloom did not dismiss a 2011 indi...

Vandals tamper with crypts at Martinsburg cemetery

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Tue, 14 May 2013 08:16:29 -0400

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- The West Virginia State Police is asking the public for help in finding whoever tampered with crypts at a Martinsburg cemetery.State police tell The Journal that the vandalism occurred Sunday at Rosedale Funeral Home and Cemetery.Poli...

Man linked to Fla.-W.Va. pill ring gets prison

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Tue, 14 May 2013 08:18:27 -0400

WHEELING, W.Va. -- A 35-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a Florida-to-West Virginia pill ring.The government says Jamie L. Joyner of Deland, Fla., entered a guilty plea in January to conspiring to distribute powerful pr...

Husband drugged prosecutor to snoop on her, police say

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Tue, 14 May 2013 09:55:06 -0400

PHILIPPI, W.Va. -- The husband of a prosecutor in north-central West Virginia is charged with drugging his wife so he could examine her cellphone and email histories. William Francis "Frank" Poling Jr., 42, is free on $5,000 bond, according to...

Fayette County Police Memorial Service is Wednesday.

(Staff reports) — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:31:59 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 118 will conduct its annual Police Memorial Service at noon Wednesday in front of the Fayette County Courthouse. The FOP lodge and the Fayette County Sheriffs Department will hold a reception i...

Three accused of running meth lab

(Staff reports) — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:38:35 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Three Kanawha County residents are in jail after being accused of running a meth lab from a home near Charleston. According to Sgt. Larry OBryan of the Quincy detachment of the West Virginia State Police, troopers went to a house ...

Suspect in Mingo sheriff murder to plead not guilty

(Travis Crum) — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:00:00 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va.-- The man accused of fatally shooting Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum is expected to plead not guilty to first-degree murder during an arraignment hearing today. Tennis Melvin Maynard, 37, of Delbarton, is scheduled for arraignment at 1...

Huntington man killed after being hit by train

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Mon, 13 May 2013 08:14:51 -0400

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Police are investigating the death of a Huntington man who was hit by a train.The train hit Kevin Andrew Tierney, 55, at about 1 a.m. Sunday in the west end of Huntington.Police say Tierney was crossing the tracks after he left a nearb...

Ex-sheriff gets a year in prison in suspect beating

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Mon, 13 May 2013 08:16:46 -0400

WHEELING, W.Va. -- A former West Virginia sheriff was ordered into federal custody Monday and will spend a year in prison for his role in the 2010 beating of a bank robber after a high-speed chase.U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey rejected pleas that...

Alleged shooter of Mingo sheriff to be arraigned Wednesday

rustymarks@wvgazette.com (Rusty Marks) — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:17:43 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The man accused of fatally shooting Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum will be released from the hospital and is expected to be arraigned on a first-degree murder charge Wednesday.Tennis Melvin Maynard, 37, of Delbarton, is scheduled for...

Hurricane officer sues, seeks lost wages for K-9 care

(Travis Crum) — Sun, 12 May 2013 17:16:19 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A former Hurricane police officer is suing the department for lost wages for time he spent caring for, training and grooming his K9 companion. Patrolman Jason Kerr alleges in a civil suit filed in Putnam County Circuit Court earli...

Toddler wandered off for a second time, police say

(Travis Crum) — Sat, 11 May 2013 15:46:59 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Charleston mother drank, fell asleep and her 2-year-old son walked out of the house alone Saturday, police said.The same toddler was found wandering alone in the Patrick Street Plaza early Friday. Police said it was an accident and d...

Meth lab busts double in W.Va.

ericeyre@wvgazette.com (Eric Eyre) — Sat, 11 May 2013 20:29:06 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia law enforcement agencies have seized 200 methamphetamine labs so far this year, setting a pace thats expected to shatter last years record high. Authorities shut down 288 meth labs in West Virginia last year, according ...

Gun brought to Morgantown High School, teen arrested

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:25:18 -0400

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- A Morgantown High School student has been arrested after allegedly bringing an unloaded handgun that was reported stolen to school. Morgantown High Principal Robert DeSantis said the gun was tucked into the boys pants. Another stude...

Former Tygart Jail guard accused of sexual contact

webmaster@ap.org ( The Associated Press) — Fri, 10 May 2013 09:38:53 -0400

ELKINS, W.Va. -- A former Tygart Valley Regional Jail guard is accused of having sexual contact with a female inmate. State Trooper C.E. Elliott, in Elkins, said in a criminal complaint that Buddy Lee Leary faces felony charges stemming from the alleged...

Three UC football players face marijuana charges

rustymarks@wvgazette.com (Rusty Marks) — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:38:44 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Three University of Charleston football players are among four people facing drug charges after marijuana was allegedly mailed to a house in Charleston. Officers from the Metro Drug Unit "attempted a controlled delivery of a pa...

Toddler wanders away from home, police say

(Staff reports) — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:46:29 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Police said no charges would be filed after a 2-year-old boy was found wandering alone at the Patrick Street Plaza early Friday morning. Charleston Police Lt. Steve Cooper said the toddler managed to sneak away from his sleeping unc...

Charleston police seek suspect in soda truck break-in

(Staff reports) — Fri, 10 May 2013 18:52:21 -0400

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Police detectives need help identifying a man they said broke into a soda delivery truck Thursday at Saint Francis Hospital. Charleston Police Detective E.J. Tipton said security cameras captured the suspect walking through the hosp...