CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two people were arrested Monday evening after a fight in the parking lot of Andrew Jackson Middle School led to gunshots, said Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

Police responded to a call that a large group of people were fighting in the parking lot about 7:10 p.m. Monday.  The caller also said there was gunfire, according to police.

When Cpl. J.S. Cochran arrived on the scene, several people were still fighting. As he approached the group, Fred W. Hammon, Jr., 29, of Dalewood Drive, Cross Lanes, allegedly tossed a handgun in his direction.

Michael Edward Hall Jr., 30, of Frame got into an argument with a man outside his home on Aarons Fork Road shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday, according to police. Hall shot several rounds, hitting Dana Lee Sampson, 41 and Elizabeth Marie Stricker, 31, both of Big Fork Road in Elkview, Crosier said.

Hall then called 911 and said he had just shot two people at his house.

Crosier said the events that led up to the shooting are unclear but police believe Sampson and Stricker went to speak to Hall about domestic issues and that Hall fired several rounds after arguing with the pair. The relationships between the three are unknown, he said.

CROSS LANES, W.Va. -- Kanawha County sheriff's deputies and West Virginia state troopers are investigating a fight in the parking lot of Andrew Jackson Middle School that turned into reports of gunfire Monday evening.

Dispatchers received a call around 7:15 p.m. that one person was holding five others at gunpoint. Several minutes later, a sheriff's deputy radioed that shots had been fired and that there was a lot of blood on the ground.

The deputy also said that he did not think anyone was shot.

Kenny Kemp

Cpl. Dana Rowsey has spent the last eight years solving crimes for the Charleston Police Department as a crime scene investigator. Rowsey is trained to walk into a scene and be able to pick up the "red flags" of what went wrong.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Not many people can walk into a crime scene and tell you what happened, but Cpl. Dana Rowsey with the Charleston Police Department is trained to do just that.

And his eyes have been instrumental in solving nine of the 11 homicides this year in Charleston.

Rowsey said he thinks that the national statistics for solved homicides is "a little lower," but he said the size of Charleston helps when it comes to solving cases.

FRAME, W.Va. -- Two people have been taken to the hospital after they were shot Sunday night at home in Frame.

Michael Edward Hall, Jr., 30, of Frame got into an argument with a man outside his home on Aarons Fork Road shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday, according to Detective Sean Snuffer of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

Hall fired several rounds, hitting Dana Sampson, 41, and Elizabeth Marie Stricker, 32, both of Elkview, Snuffer said.

A Cross Lanes man is free on bond after a drive-by shooting near Charleston.

Witnesses told Kanawha County sheriff's deputies that they saw Philip Jason Tolley, 33, drive a green Mercury Mountaineer by a home in the 200 block of Keystone Drive at about 9 p.m. Aug. 28, pull out a pistol, and open fire on the house, according to Lt. Bryan Stover of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department. Deputies later found a bullet lodged in the door.

Stover said Tolley apparently used to live in the area and had been in disputes with neighbors.

Clinton Hayes Richardson

FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. -- An Oak Hill man faces sexual abuse and assault charges after he allegedly abused several juveniles, and his wife also faces charges because she knew of the abuse and told no one about it.

Clinton Hayes Richardson, 62, sexually abused several young children and family members over a period of several years, according to the Fayette County Sheriff's Department.

Some of the alleged incidents are recent, but the Sheriff's Department said many of them date back several years.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Three people were taken to area hospitals after a head-on collision Thursday evening in Fayette County. 

Around 4:55 p.m. Thursday, Bob Evans, 63, of Jodie, was traveling south on W.Va. 61 near Montgomery in a 1998 Ford Ranger when he crossed the centerline and collided head-on with a 1998 Dodge Caravan, according to the Fayette County Sheriff's Department.

Elizabeth Lipscomb, 29, of Kimberly, who was driving the Caravan, and a 6-year-old in that vehicle were taken to Montgomery General Hospital, according to the sheriff's department.

GLEN JEAN, W.Va. -- Police are searching for an armed robber they say assaulted a Fayette County bartender and stole her purse.

Linda Rogers, 45, a bartender at Drifter's Bar in the Glen Jean area, was leaving the bar after 3 a.m. when a man armed with a stun gun assaulted her and stole her purse, according to the Fayette County Sheriff's Department.

The suspect fled on foot. Sheriff's K-9s were called to the scene but couldn't find him, according to the Sheriff's Department.

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. -- A Mason County man was arrested late Thursday and charged with selling drugs.

Carl W. Ray, 30, of Point Pleasant was arrested after Mason County sheriff's deputies caught him with about 1 pound of marijuana, a large amount of cash and a loaded gun, said Mason County Sheriff David Anthony. Anthony said Ray allegedly admitted to trafficking drugs from his home for the past year.

Ray lives about 300 feet from the front door of Point Pleasant Primary School, Anthony said.

WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Authorities are still unsure what hit two cars traveling eastbound on I-64 near the Teays Valley exit.

Dispatchers originally received a call late Thursday afternoon that rocks were being thrown at the cars on the interstate. Sheriff's deputies were called to investigate, dispatchers said.

The sheriff's department could not be reached for comment. Sheriff Mark Smith told local television stations that he believed the vehicles were struck by projectiles from a pellet gun.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- An attempt by Charleston police to crack down on illegally held guns has led to two more concealed weapons arrests.

Charleston Police Sgt. Eric Hodges said an officer thought it was strange when a man bought two tickets at the Greyhound bus station on Reynolds Street at about 1:20 a.m. Wednesday, went outside and gave them to two men waiting around the corner.

When officers went to question the men, one tried to run away, Hodges said. He was caught after a short foot chase.

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.