Ambulance Driver Indicted On 3 Felony Counts In Kanawha County Death

A 16-member grand jury has indicted Alyssa Middleton, the driver of the ambulance that struck and killed John Lucas while she was on duty.  

She has been charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident causing death, according to Kanawha County Prosecutor Debra Rusnak. They are all felony charges.  

“Because this case remains an open and active case, we are unable to provide any further information as to the evidence or the facts of this case,” Rusnak said at a Thursday press conference. “I am very limited on the information that I am permitted by law to disclose, and for that reason, we are not going to be able to elaborate much.” 

Lucas was struck and killed in Elkview on April 16 at approximately 2 a.m. and dragged for nearly two miles. His arm was severed and he died from his injuries.  

There is a 35-minute video of the incident. Rusnak has indicated there are more than 400 pieces of evidence in the case. WCHSTV first obtained the video of the incident and has shared it online.  

Kanawha County Sheriff Joseph Crawford had a message for the Lucas family.  

“Your family will continue in our thoughts and prayers as we navigate through this in the judicial system,” Crawford said. “I want to commend our detectives and our deputies that responded to the scene. There were hundreds and hundreds of man hours spent in this case. It’s a difficult case, and we’re going through recovering and combing through video evidence and conducting numerous interviews. I want to say that they did their job under intense scrutiny and difficult circumstances.” 

In an arraignment Friday, Middleton pled not guilty to the charges and was released on a $100,000 bond with a 10% surety guarantee after her attorney Tim Carrico explained that she was not a flight risk, but the family would be unable to post a $50,000 cash bond. 

Judge Dave Hardy set the date for the jury trial for August 17 with a pretrial hearing on July 28. 

Following the arraignment Scott Summers, the Lucas family attorney, released a statement to West Virginia Public Broadcasting.  

“The Lucas family is happy that the criminal process is moving forward. Today was a very emotional day for them,” he wrote. “They continue to be grateful for the overwhelming love and support they are receiving from their community.”