The Associated Press Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Probe Of Illegal Drugs Delivered By Drone At W.Va. Prison Nets 11 Arrests

Eleven suspects have been arrested in an investigation into illegal drugs allegedly delivered by drones into a federal prison in southern West Virginia. Another man under investigation who fled officers was later found dead, authorities said.

McDowell County Sheriff James Muncy said his office was contacted in November by officials at the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution, McDowell in Welch to help with increased drone use in the area. In December, the sheriff’s office started receiving multiple tips about drone deliveries.

Muncy said in a statement Friday that the arrests were made from mid-December through early February. The charges included introduction or attempts to introduce contraband into a correctional facility, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, unlawfully operating a drone, terroristic acts and felony conspiracy.

Muncy didn’t say what drugs were allegedly flown into the facility or whether any of those arrested are inmates there.

A Louisville, Kentucky, man wanted on an outstanding warrant in the investigation fled officers on foot Feb. 9. Members of the sheriff’s office found him dead on Feb. 15. The statement didn’t indicate where he was found, and his body was sent to the state medical examiner for an autopsy.

One of the arrested suspects is a juvenile, Muncy said. In addition, two suspects were charged with assault and battery on an officer and fleeing on foot. Another suspect in the case was charged with being a fugitive from Pennsylvania.

Most of the suspects remained held Monday at the Southwestern Regional Jail in Holden. Jail records didn’t indicate whether they have attorneys who could comment on the charges.

Adoptive Parents Charged With Felony Neglect After 3 Children Found Alone In Dangerous Conditions

Two adoptive parents have been charged with felony neglect after two children were found locked inside a small barn and a third child was located in an unprotected loft inside an adjacent home.

Two adoptive parents in West Virginia were charged with felony neglect after two children were found locked inside a small barn and a third child was located in an unprotected loft inside an adjacent home, police said Tuesday.

The parents were arraigned Tuesday on charges of gross child neglect creating a substantial risk of injury.

Authorities began investigating after they received a call Monday from someone expressing concern about the children’s welfare. Kanawha County sheriff’s deputies forced their way into the barn, where a boy and a girl were locked inside a small room. The children had been deprived of adequate food and hygienic care, and the room had no running water or bathroom facilities, the sheriff’s department said in a news release.

Inside the main residence, a small child was found alone in a loft about 15 feet (4.6 meters) high with no protection from falling, the statement said.

No adults were present at the home. The adoptive parents were arrested when they returned, and each was being held in jail on a $200,000 cash bond. An Oct. 12 preliminary hearing is scheduled. Jail records didn’t indicate whether the parents have attorneys who could comment on the charges.

The Associated Press is not naming the parents in order to protect the identity of the children, who have been placed with Child Protective Services.

W.Va. State Lawmaker Elliott Pritt Switches From Dem To GOP

The Republican supermajority in West Virginia’s House of Delegates became more lopsided Monday after Del. Elliott Pritt switched from the Democratic Party, the state’s GOP leader said.

Pritt, a teacher, is in his first term after defeating a Republican incumbent in the 2022 election.

“I want to welcome Delegate Elliott Pritt to the Republican Party,” West Virginia Republican Party chairwoman Elgine McArdle said in a statement. “Like so many West Virginians, Delegate Pritt has recognized that the Democratic Party of today is not the Democratic Party that our parents grew up with.”

The move gives the GOP 89 members in the House, while the Democrats’ ranks dwindled to 11. Pritt’s decision was already accounted for by late morning on the West Virginia Legislature’s official House roster.

Pritt had been the last Democrat in the House in the state’s southern coalfields.

The 34-member state Senate also has a GOP supermajority with 31 Republicans and three Democrats.

The move continues a Republican wave in the state that started a decade ago. After the 2014 election, the GOP took control of the state Senate and House from Democrats for the first time in more than eight decades.

Buoyed by criticism of former two-term President Barack Obama’s energy policies in coal-rich West Virginia, registered Democrats in 2014 fell below 50% for the first time since 1932. There are now about 456,000 registered Republicans, or 39.6% of all registered voters in West Virginia, according to the secretary of state’s office. That compares with about 372,000 registered Democrats, or 32.3%.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin is the only Democrat to currently hold statewide office.

Video Shows Teen's Beating During West Virginia Traffic Stop

Updated on Mar. 21, 2019 at 4:44 p.m.

A police dashcam video released Thursday shows a West Virginia police officer kicking and punching a handcuffed teenage boy on the ground and kneeling on his shoulder during a November traffic stop.

Berkeley County Prosecutor Catie Wilkes Delligatti released the eight-minute video to The Associated Press. The teen’s face is redacted in the video, taken from a sheriff’s cruiser.

The video shows two officers yanking the teen through the open driver’s side window to the ground, where he lands face first and is immediately placed in handcuffs. Footage shows one of the officers then kicks and stomps him several times and puts his knee on the teen’s shoulder blade, pressing down with his full weight. The officer then punches the teen at least eight times.

A minute later, the teen is pulled up to his feet but remains limp as he is thrown further to the side of the road.

Gov. Jim Justice has said the incident “cast a dark shadow” on law enforcement.

Authorities originally denied media requests for the video, citing the investigation.

Troopers Michael Kennedy and Derek Walker and a sheriff’s deputy were fired in January. Another deputy who was fired recently got his job back.

Kennedy, 29, of Morgantown, was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury on one count of deprivation of rights under color of law — language used to describe crimes committed by police officers while on duty.

The indictment accuses Kennedy of using excessive force resulting in bodily injury.

The teen was treated at a hospital and released.

State police have said the teen was involved in a crash with a sheriff’s cruiser before a pursuit ensued, his vehicle crashing again before he was apprehended. Delligatti said she couldn’t release details on whether the youth was charged, saying juvenile prosecutions are sealed.

The American Civil Liberties Union’s West Virginia chapter has said it would look into whether the teenager’s civil liberties were violated.

“The brutality witnessed in this video is shocking but all too familiar,” said Loree Stark, the West Virginia chapter’s legal director, in a statement. “Law enforcement has a constitutional responsibility to avoid excessive force, and it is crucial for videos like this to come to light so that offending parties will be held accountable.”

Walker also faces an excessive force lawsuit filed last year by a Charles Town attorney who says the trooper dragged his wife and slammed her to the ground in 2016 while she was talking to construction workers about a sidewalk project. State police responded to the scene when a worker allegedly backed his truck into the driver’s door of her SUV in a parking lot.

Updated on Mar. 21, 2019 at 2:47 p.m.

A West Virginia prosecutor has released a police dashcam video of a 16-year-old boy being beaten by officers during a November traffic stop.

Berkeley County Prosecutor Catie Wilkes Delligatti released the eight-minute video to The Associated Press on Thursday. The teen’s face is redacted in the video, taken from a sheriff’s cruiser.

Authorities originally denied media requests for the video, citing the investigation.

Two state troopers and a sheriff’s deputy were fired in January. Another deputy who was fired recently got his job back.

One trooper was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on one count of deprivation of rights under color of law — language used to describe crimes committed by police officers while on duty.

The indictment accuses Kennedy of using excessive force resulting in bodily injury.

Original Story from Mar. 20, 2019 at 5:39 p.m.

A former West Virginia state trooper who was fired after an investigation into a traffic stop beating was indicted in federal court Wednesday.

A grand jury indicted 29-year-old Michael Kennedy of Morgantown on one count of deprivation of rights under color of law — language used to describe crimes committed by police officers while on duty.

Kennedy and a fellow trooper from Martinsburg were fired in January. State police reviewed dashcam video of the Nov. 19 incident after Gov. Jim Justice ordered an investigation into what he called the beating of a 16-year-old male suspect. Police say the white teen was involved in a crash with a Berkeley County sheriff’s department cruiser before the two troopers pursued him.

The indictment accuses Kennedy, who is black, of using excessive force resulting in bodily injury. It’s not immediately known whether Kennedy has an attorney.

Two sheriff’s deputies also were fired, but a hearing board last week ordered one of them reinstated.

The teen was treated at a hospital and released. State police previously did not provide details of the traffic stop, the teen’s injuries and whether they were related to the arrest or the crashes. The American Civil Liberties Union’s West Virginia chapter had said it would look into whether the teenager’s civil liberties were violated.

Authorities have not released the dashcam video.

Justice had said the incident “cast a dark shadow” on law enforcement.