Attorney Bill Merriman is seeking to move Jesse Parsons' trial to another county. The Parkersburg News reports that Merriman filed a motion in Ritchie County Circuit Court requesting a change of venue.

Parsons is charged with driving under the influence causing bodily injury. Police say a vehicle driven by Parsons hit Cpl. Andy Pringle during a traffic stop in April.

Merriman says community support for the Pringle family could prejudice a jury against Parsons.

U.S. District Judge Irene Keeley sentenced 56-year-old Dean Edward Whitman Jr. after he pleaded guilty to walking away during a medical furlough to Ruby Memorial Hospital on April 15. Whitman was arrested later that day in Ohio.

Keeley sentenced Whitman on Tuesday. His new sentence starts after Whitman completes his original term.

NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio -- Authorities say a West Virginia man has been indicted on a charge accusing him of using dozens of prescription painkillers to spike the coffee of an Ohio Highway Patrol lieutenant who had arrested him after a traffic stop.

Tuscarawas County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Ernest says Daniel Watts, 25, of Huntington, W.Va., was indicted Tuesday. He says Watts put 83 oxycodone pills in the lieutenant's coffee on June 25 when Watts was left alone in a cruiser outside the county jail.

The pills were discovered and the lieutenant did not drink the coffee.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. --  

Police charged a Charleston man with involuntary manslaughter Wednesday after he fought with a man who later died in the hospital.

On Monday, David Booker, 24, of Charleston, got into a fight with Omar Lorenzo Thompson, 27, of Beckley, at 682 South Park Road, according to a criminal complaint on file in Kanawha Magistrate Court.

Firefighters use a rescue basket to lift Brooke Anderson, 17, from the site of a car wreck about 40 feet down a hillside near Pinch on Wednesday. -- Photo courtesy Kanawha Emergency Management

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Kanawha County teenager was hurt this morning when she lost control of her car near Pinch.

Brooke Anderson, 17, of Pinch was heading north on Pinch Road at about 6:50 a.m. when she apparently lost control of her 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier in the fog and hit a guard rail, said Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department. The car then went over an embankment.

A Kanawha County Metro 911 dispatcher said the vehicle ended up about 40 feet down the hill.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- An investigation is underway involving employees at the Chelyan office of the state Division of Highways.

But details are at a premium.

The Gazette has been able to confirm that detectives from the Kanawha County Metro Drug Unit were involved.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. --  

A South Charleston man was arrested early this week after allegedly carrying a concealed weapon in Kanawha City.

Police patrolling in the 5400 block of Washington Avenue spotted a man running at about 11:20 p.m. Sunday, said Sgt. Eric Hodges of the Charleston Police Department.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A malicious wounding investigation turned to homicide after the victim of a beating died Tuesday in Charleston.

Sgt. Eric Hodges of the Charleston Police Department said a fight about 4:30 p.m. Monday led to Omar Lorenzo Thompson, 27, of Beckley, being hit on the head at 682 South Park Road. Thompson was taken to CAMC General Hospital, where he died at about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Hodges said police were initially investigating the incident as a malicious wounding, but are now conducting a homicide investigation. Police are not yet releasing the names of any possible suspects, but expect to release more information.

Berkeley County Prosecutor Pamela Games-Neely told a judge on Monday that 31-year-old James L. Blackford III agreed to enter an Alford plea to first-degree arson and causing serious injury during an arson-related crime.

In an Alford plea, a defendant doesn't admit guilt but acknowledges that the prosecution has enough evidence to convict.

Blackford was a three-year member of the Bedington Volunteer Fire Department when he was charged with setting fire to a barn in 2009.

Cody Woolridge, 22, of Anawalt, was found dead in the parking lot of Joe's Bar in Anawalt, according to West Virginia State Police.

Another man, Kevin Fleming, 21, of Anawalt, was cut in the face when he tried to break up a fight involving Woolridge and two other men, according to State Police.

Kristopher A. Mitchem, 18, of Pageton, and James L. Mitchem, 45, are charged with first-degree murder, felony conspiracy, malicious wounding, three counts of assault during the commission of a felony and three counts of brandishing a deadly weapon, according to State Police.

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II says 39-year-old Lori Sue Helmick of Bruceton Mills pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Clarksburg to one count of sexual abuse of a ward.

Ihlenfeld says Helmick admitted to having sex with an inmate on Nov. 26, 2009 while she was working as a nurse at the U.S. Penitentiary at Hazelton. The inmate was Helmick's patient.

A sentencing date hasn't been set. Helmick faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Authorities have identified a couple involved in a fatal motorcycle accident near Big Chimney on Sunday.

Richard Ray Carnefix, 54, of Elkview, was headed north on Indian Creek Road about 8:30 p.m. when he apparently lost control of his motorcycle and ran into a ditch line, according to Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

Carnefix and his passenger, Darla Kay Hayes, 49, were thrown from the motorcycle.

Lawrence Pierce

Clayton "Gino" Rogers, 51, of St. Albans was arraigned in Kanawha County Magistrate Court Monday evening. Rogers faces felony murder charges after he allegedly stabbed and killed his ex-girlfriend Laura S. Amos.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. --  A man wanted for the killing of his ex-girlfriend near St. Albans on Sunday turned himself in to Kanawha County sheriff's deputies Monday afternoon after a 24-hour manhunt.

An acquaintance of Clayton "Gino" Rogers, 51, of St. Albans, drove his truck into the woods near Fairview Drive and returned with Rogers at about 3:20 p.m., said Kanawha County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Johnnie Rutherford.

Rogers was wanted on a murder charge for the killing of Laura Amos, 35.

See crime chart here

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Violent crimes have declined nationwide since 2008, yet homicide rates in Charleston continue to rise.

The FBI's preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report from 2009 shows that violent crime in the nation decreased by 5.5 percent when compared to 2008 data, the last year for which complete figures are available.

Police arrested Andrew Armstrong, 22; Andrew Pagan, 19; Matt Maus, 22; and Jamin Smith, 19, after they allegedly threw the bolts and cap on Aug. 23, according to criminal complaints in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

According to UC's website, Armstrong, Pagan and Maus play baseball while Smith plays on the golf team. Maus also plays golf.

The students struck two vehicles, according to a criminal complaint signed by Charleston Police Detective E. Tipton.

Troopers from the State Police Crimes Against Children Unit arrested Gary Wayne Sturgeon, 54, of Metz for three counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of sexual abuse of a child by a custodian, according to the State Police.

The arrest stems from an investigation conducted by local Child Protective Services workers.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Charleston man faces solicitation charges after he offered a teenage boy money for sex, police say.

Jodi Cunningham, 45, of Charleston, was working Monday at the Marathon gas station on Oakridge Drive in Charleston when a 16-year-old male came into the store, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

They were the only two people in the store, and when the teenager went to leave, Cunningham allegedly asked him if he was interested in having sex with men. Cunningham then asked the minor if he would be interested in having sex for money, according to the complaint.

Family members of Carlos James Goode, 51, of Crab Orchard, called the Raleigh County Sheriff's Department and reported Goode missing around 8:20 p.m. Wednesday evening, according to the Sheriff's Department.

Family members said Goode, who is mentally handicapped and doesn't see well, had been missing since about noon, according to the sheriff's department.

Emergency crews searched through the evening but suspended the search at 4 a.m. Thursday so crews could rest and re-group for the following day. The search resumed at 8 a.m. Thursday, according to the sheriff's department.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Cedar Grove police chief who witnesses say dragged an 80-year-old man off his ATV and slammed him to the concrete said in a criminal complaint that the man wouldn't follow his instructions and tripped getting off the ATV.

According to the complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court, Johnny D. Walls said that he first stopped Robert McComb for traveling the wrong way on Dawson Street. He charged McComb with a wrong way violation, fleeing an officer on an ATV and obstructing an officer.

Walls said McComb couldn't hear him at first, according to the complaint. When Walls asked for a second time if McComb had a driver's license, McComb told him he did but that it was at his house.

The Associated Press

Joseph Hamsher of Charleston and Sarah Willner of Oakland, Calif., are chained to a concrete-filled barrel at one entrance to the parking lot of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection headquarters in Charleston on Thursday.

Joseph Hamsher of Charleston and Sarah Willner of Oakland, Calif., chained themselves to a concrete-filled barrel with the slogan "Dept of Easy Permits." They were arrested shortly after 8 a.m.

Hamsher and Willner were charged with trespassing, obstruction and disrupting government processes, Capitol Police Deputy Director Randy Mayhew said. They were taken to Kanawha County Magistrate Court by Charleston police.

Hamsher has since been released on bond, according to the court. Willner is being held at the South Central Regional Jail.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Rodney T. Hoffman was also ordered Wednesday to pay restitution totaling $133,819 to the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the government, Hoffman admitted in April he cleaned out plating tanks and stored waste materials on site without a permit.

The waste included sulfuric acid and chromic acid.

KINGWOOD, W.Va. -- A former chief tax deputy for the Preston County Sheriff's Department has been charged with embezzling about $74,000 from her office.

Valerie Beeghly, 54, of Bruceton Mills was charged with grand larceny by embezzlement and falsifying records Tuesday in Preston County Circuit Court.

Prosecutor Mel Snyder says the funds were discovered missing after Beeghly was dismissed in February. She had served in the office for more than 20 years.

Jesse Arlo Lafferty was being held on $140,000 bond today at the Eastern Regional Jail. The 32-year-old was arraigned Monday on charges of child abuse, child neglect and conspiracy.

State Police Cpl. J.M. Walker says a hospital examination indicated Lafferty's 5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter were underweight and malnourished. Walker says the home's refrigerator and food pantry were locked and it appeared the children were forced to spend substantial time in their basement.

The children are now in the state's care.

An order Tuesday by Berkeley County Magistrate Joan Bragg allows the dogs to be given to new homes.

Animal Control Officer Erin Webber says the dogs, mostly pit bulls, were living in deplorable conditions when they were seized Aug. 4 from the Yip Yip Kennel in Martinsburg. One dog died and many others had serious health issues.

County health officials have condemned the residence.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A crash on Interstate 64 slowed traffic down in the eastbound lanes near Institute Wednesday morning, said a Kanawha County Metro 911 dispatcher.

A semi rolled over around 6:45 a.m. at the 50 mile marker.

All of the three eastbound lanes were closed briefly to allow emergency workers to get the vehicle off the road.

The juvenile male was attempting to cross the road in Hartford around 7:35 a.m. when a vehicle traveling north on W.Va. 62 struck the boy, according to the Mason County Sheriff's Department.

The boy was taken to St. Mary's Hospital. It was unclear how badly he was injured.

No charges have yet been filed.

Hurricane police did not return phone calls seeking information on the allegations.

Webster said his department's Professional Standards Section was working with Hurricane police on their own preliminary investigation into the incident.

Webster said the officer, whom he did not name, has not been placed on administrative leave.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Charleston woman faces battery charges after allegedly striking a juvenile in the face in front of at least three people on Charleston's West Side.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court on Monday, Leanne P. Mullins, 46, of Charleston, struck the boy in the face at least once, leaving a slightly swollen red mark under one of his eyes.

Last week, Melissa Cornwell, the mother of the boy Mullins allegedly hit, was arrested. She punched and kicked Mullins in the face after she saw Mullins hit her child, according to a criminal complaint filed Aug. 17 in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

CORRECTION - In the story below it was wrongly reported that Johnny Walls was hired as a Chesapeake officer in May 2008.

The information provided to the Gazette by the state Law Enforcement Training (LET) unit of the Division of Justice and Community Services was incorrect. He completed the eight classes for equivalent certification and was certified as a West Virginia police officer at that time, but wasn't employed in Chesapeake past June 25, 2005.

The story below has been changed to reflect this correction. 

Jacquelyn Rosen and Karl Hildebrand sent a letter last week to authorities urging them to conduct their investigations with more sincerity and seriousness.

Marcus Maxine Stalnaker, 69, and her daughter, Mary Friend, 46, disappeared Dec. 1, 1999, after leaving their Jane Lew home. Their car was found five days later near the Harrison County community of Gore.

Lewis County Sheriff Mike Gissy, who was not in office when the two disappeared, says the case remains a priority. The department has suspended its reward for information that could lead to an arrest and conviction.

More meth users are using backpacks to store the components used to make the drug and transport them to various locations, say State Police who are seeing the dangerous and disturbing trend catch on in Kanawha County.

Sgt. L.G. O'Bryan, who is the only certified meth technician for the State Police in the area, said so far this year troopers have found 11 meth labs in backpacks. He said the reason for backpack labs have become more common is because they're inconspicuous.

"They use those big, academic Jansport backpacks and duffel bags,'' O'Bryan said. "People tend to look at them and think they're carrying a normal item.''

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Charleston woman says she was mugged on the city's West Side early Sunday.

Ramonda Smith, 47, told police she was walking in the 1200 block of Washington Street West at about 3 a.m. when a man came up behind her and demanded her purse, according to Sgt. Eric Hodges of the Charleston Police Department.

Smith said the man had a shiny pistol in his hand. Hodges said she told police she gave the man her purse. He then ran away and jumped into a gray car.

Chip Ellis

Karen McComb gives her father, Robert, a hug Saturday evening in Cedar Grove at a candlelight vigil in Robert McComb's honor. The Kanawha County community gathered to support McComb, who still bears wounds from an excessive-force arrest allegedly at the hands of Cedar Grove's chief of police last Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Robert McComb was riding ATVs with his friends, Darrell Cole and Bobby Palmer, and was heading back to his house after coming out of the woods when he was stopped by a Cedar Grove police cruiser.

The police officer pulled up beside McComb's ATV and stopped.

"I think Bob thought he was trying to let us by, so he kept going," said Palmer, who was riding an ATV behind McComb. "I thought the same thing."

Courtesy photo

State records show that Galen Reel, a former Moorefield police officer accused of two counts of sexual assault, has been hired by the Petersburg Police Department.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Galen Reel, the former Moorefield police officer who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman, then later said that plea was a lie and was found not guilty of the charges, has been hired by the Petersburg Police Department, according to state records.

"This is just another example of the revolving door result that we have in West Virginia with these cops who get reported or accused of abuse or misconduct," said Aaron Harrah, the lawyer for the woman Reel is accused of assaulting. "I don't see how he can take an oath of office to serve and protect. It's just a travesty." 

Chuck Sadler, state law enforcement training coordinator, confirmed that Reel was working in Petersburg as a police officer.

Lawrence Pierce

Union Mission Director David Sneade tells a story about Terry Forrester, who died Monday after falling into the Kanawha River and drowning. The shelter held a memorial service Friday night for Forrester and Bradley Mullins, two homeless men who died in the past two weeks.

"He was a happy-go-lucky guy. He always laughed when you shook his hand and smiled," said Union Mission Crossroads Men's Shelter Director David Sneade.

Sneade spoke with a smile on his face as he remembered occasional shelter resident Terry Forrester, who passed away Monday after he fell into the Kanawha River and drowned.

"He had a good sense of humor," he said. "He was a funny little fella. You'd usually see him with scratches on his face or nose from where he fell down, and when you'd ask him what happened he'd say, 'Oh, I got jumped, but I took care of it.' "

Foster G. "Pete" Bowen, 80, of Barboursville.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A former Huntington Police Department captain charged with sexual assault this week may face additional charges in Webster County.

On Thursday, Foster G. "Pete" Bowen, 80, of Barboursville, was arrested after two men, who were juveniles at the time, said he repeatedly assaulted them between 1986 and 1992 at his home on Shaw Street, according to State Police.

People involved in the case told police that some of the abuse happened at Bowen's camp in Bergoo, Webster County. When troopers searched the camp, they found various evidence, including some pornographic material, according to State Police.

Donovan E. Lyles, 21, of Detroit.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Police arrested a Detroit man who allegedly had four stolen handguns in his possession as he tried to leave Charleston.

On Thursday, officers with the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Task Unit received a tip that a drug dealer might try to leave Charleston on a Greyhound bus that night, according to the Criminal Investigation Division of the Charleston Police Department.

MDENT detectives spotted Donovan E. Lyles, 21, around 12:30 a.m. Friday and found he was carrying four handguns. All the guns had been reported stolen, according to police.

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A South Charleston man has been arrested after he allegedly broke into a home and stole jewelry.

South Charleston officers responded to a call in the 800 block of Echo Drive in South Charleston shortly after noon Thursday, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

They saw Warren Allen Estes, 21, of South Charleston, leaving the front door of a residence, according to the complaint. Inside the residence, Patrolman E.M. Peterson found the rear kitchen window broken and glass on the floor, according to the complaint.

FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. -- A Fayette County man was sent to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the foot after a domestic dispute among two brothers and their father turned violent.

Around 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Fayette County sheriff's deputies responded to a domestic dispute between a father and a son in the Willis Branch Road area of Hopewell. As deputies were en route to the fight, a second call came in saying one individual had armed himself with a shotgun and had shot another person, according to the Sheriff's Department.

Keith Scott Willis, 33, shot his brother, Mark G. Willis, in the foot with a shotgun loaded with birdshot, according to the Sheriff's Department. Both men are from Victor.

Alishia K. Phillips, 36, of Charleston.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A convicted felon is facing more charges after allegedly trying to break into cars in Kanawha City and carrying a concealed weapon.

Around 2:10 a.m. Friday, a Charleston police officer noticed a white female wearing a black sweatshirt, blue jeans and black tennis shoes trying to break into vehicles at 51st Street and Venable Avenue in Kanawha City, according to a news release from police.

The woman, Alishia K. Phillips, 36, of Charleston, was carrying a concealed Smith & Wesson .38 Special handgun. Phillips is a convicted felon on fraudulent prescription drug charges and is not allowed to own a firearm, according to the release.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Putnam County man has been arrested after threatening to blow up the Kroger in St. Albans during a failed robbery attempt.

Around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Timothy M. Chapman, 34, of Scott Depot, walked up to the service desk at the Kroger on MacCorkle Avenue in St. Albans and demanded money from the clerk, according to a news release from Capt. James Agee with the St. Albans Police Department.

Chapman allegedly threatened to "blow the place up," and shoot everyone in the store unless they handed over the money, Agee said. Chapman did not have a weapon.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A former captain in the Huntington Police Department, who is now 80 years old, was arrested Thursday, accused of sexually assaulting two male juveniles about 20 years ago.

Foster G. "Pete" Bowen, of Barboursville, was arrested after two people said he repeatedly assaulted them between 1986 and 1992 at his home on Shaw Street.

Bowen faces two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual assault by a guardian, two counts of displaying obscene material to a minor and two counts of using obscene material to seduce a minor.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Charleston man was arrested early today and charged with carrying a concealed weapon.

Charleston Police Sgt. Eric Hodges said officers were conducting a foot patrol in the Hunt Avenue area of the city's West Side at about 3:45 a.m. when they spotted a suspicious subject in an alley. Hodges said Monyea R. Gravely, 20, began walking toward officers.

Hodges said Gravely's speech was slurred, and officers saw what looked like the butt of a gun above his right pants pocket.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County sheriff's deputies are investigating two home invasions in the eastern end of the county.

Lt. Sean Crosier said two men burst through the door of a house in Dupont City at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday as the homeowner and a friend were watching television.

Crosier said the men waved guns at the two men in the house and demanded drugs. They then pistol-whipped both men before stealing prescription drugs. Crosier said the homeowner is physically handicapped and unable to defend himself.

Gazette file photo

A wrecked minivan lies in the median between the north and southbound lanes of Interstate 79 on Tuesday. Two children were killed when they were ejected from the vehicle.

Carla Aiken, 36, of Cranberry Township, Pa., told WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh that her 7-year-old son, Logan Beckwith, and 6-year-old daughter, Haley Weiland, were in booster seats until Logan became ill.

"We had to throw out the car seats -- the booster seats -- because they were just covered. They were saturated with vomit, and it's hot and it's humid and I wasn't going to let them sit in that," Aiken told WTAE.

Police say the family was returning from Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Tuesday when Aiken lost control of the van and the vehicle rolled several times on Interstate 79 near Clendenin.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court, the girl's mother went to the Quincy detachment of the West Virginia State Police and said her daughter was pregnant by the suspect, Eric Mitchell Young.

During an 18-month period from January 2008 to July 2009, the teen had stayed with Young and his girlfriend, who is the victim's cousin, according to the complaint.

The mother said she had allowed her daughter to stay at the residence while she was at work and Young and the victim's cousin were responsible for her, according to the complaint.

Stephen M. Stone, 35, was charged with 14 counts of using counterfeit money after he apparently went on a spending spree with the fake bills in early July, according to a criminal complaint filed in Putnam County Magistrate Court.

On July 2, Stone went into the Creek Side Café in Hurricane and asked the bartender to make change for a fake $20 bill so he could play the gambling machines in the back room, the complaint states.

The bartender gave Stone four $5 bills for his $20. Stone went back to the bartender five more times that day to make change for fake $20 bills, the complaint states.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A West Side woman faces assault charges after she allegedly kicked and punched another woman.

Police charged Melissa F. Cornwell, 35, with malicious wounding after she allegedly repeatedly punched and kicked Leann Mullins in the face on Monday while she was on the ground and unable to defend herself, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

According to the complaint, Mullins suffered "gruesome injuries" to her face, including bleeding cuts and lacerations, bruising and severe swelling, including one eye swollen shut.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A 20-year-old Cross Lanes resident has been arrested after allegedly trading a small amount of marijuana for a stolen firearm and operating a still in his bedroom.

Trooper L.W. Price and another trooper went to the Village Apartment Complex in Cross Lanes on Monday to speak to Adam G. Walker, 20, about a stolen gun, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

Price found Walker's truck in the parking lot and then called him. Walker said he was at his mother's home in Poca and would not be back until the next day, according to the complaint.

Courtesy photo

Markkeia A. Johnson

Charleston Police say Markkeia A. Johnson, 21, of Oakwood Terrace, fired a handgun inside Kristy Brooks' apartment. Johnson apparently shot herself in the hand, and the bullet then hit Brooks, 41, in the left side of her abdomen, said Chief of Detectives Sgt. Steve Cooper. Neither woman suffered life-threatening injuries.

The women are neighbors at the apartment complex. Johnson faces charges of wanton endangerment and malicious wounding, both felonies.

Cooper said it wasn't immediately clear to detectives what had happened during the incident because the victims weren't completely forthcoming with information. Details given by the victims were "suspicious," he said.