Shawn Gilmore

ST. ALBANS, W.Va. -- Police said a man robbed two people by attacking them and running off with their belongings or cash at the same St. Albans apartment complex.

Shawn Lamar Gilmore, 41, of St. Albans, was arrested in connection to robberies on Jan. 28 and Thursday, said Capt. James Agee of the St. Albans Police Department.

On Jan. 28, Gilmore allegedly knocked a woman down and tried to steal her purse at an apartment complex on B Street, Agee said. When she fought back, he allegedly grabbed a bottle of pills from her purse and ran off.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Police are investigating as a homicide the death of a man whose body was found in Cheat Lake.

Media outlets report that the Monongalia County Sheriff's Department identified the victim as 23-year-old Quinten Bolden of Morgantown.

Bolden had been missing since late November.

Stefon Ferguson

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- A Huntington man allegedly shot a Charleston man in the arm on Thursday night, and police said the alleged shooter's young son was in the man's van at the time.

Huntington Police were called to Cabell Huntington Hospital's Emergency Room at 11:05 p.m. after Greg H. Truslow, 21, walked in with several gunshot wounds, according to a news release.

Police say Truslow, who was released from the hospital Friday, told them a man shot at him from a van with a small child inside at the Sunoco gas station on 20th and 9th Avenue.

Shawn L. Gilmore

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- St. Albans police are looking for a man believed involved in two robberies in the past week.

Police have gotten two arrest warrants for Shawn L. Gilmore, 41, of St. Albans for two alleged robberies on Jan. 28 and on Thursday, said Capt. James Agee of the St. Albans Police Department.

On Jan. 28, Gilmore allegedly knocked a woman down and tried to steal her purse at an apartment complex on B Street, Agee said. When she fought back, he allegedly grabbed a bottle of pills from her purse and ran off.

The U.S. attorney's office says 36-year-old Sylvester Cuevas was sentenced Thursday after previously admitting to both felony assaults. One occurred at the federal facility, while the other involved a correctional officer at the Southern Regional Jail in Raleigh County. Both assaults occurred in 2010.

In both instances, the guards suffered facial injuries.

Cuevas was serving a sentence in Beckley for mailing threatening communications.

The government says 76-year-old James P. Wooley of Louisa, Ky., entered his plea on Thursday and is scheduled for sentencing in May.

Prosecutors say Wooley owned and operated drug stores at two locations near Kermit. An investigation revealed that Wooley and other pharmacists under his direction dispensed controlled substances that did not have a doctor's approval.

The offenses occurred in 2006.

Richwood Mayor John D. McClung, 65, is charged with fraudulent schemes and obtaining money by false pretenses.

Richwood Mayor John D. McClung, 65, was charged with fraudulent schemes and obtaining money by false pretenses following a three-month investigation by the Ethics Commission, according to a news release issued by the West Virginia State Police.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Nicholas County Magistrate Court, McClung received a $2,500 check from Dalton Logistics Inc., on July 20, 2010, on behalf of a needy family. McClung deposited the check into the city's "Rails to Trails" account, a program that establishes biking and walking paths around Nicholas County, the criminal complaint states, adding that he then contacted the wife in the family, Teresa McCarley, and gave her a $2,500 check from the "Rails to Trails" account.

He told her to cash the check and bring him back the money and, in return, he would pay her overdue water bill, the criminal complaint states.

Berkeley County prosecutor Pamela Games-Neely tells media outlets that 23-year-old Jessica Lynn Skupnick of Hedgesville accepted the plea agreement Wednesday.

If a judge approves the agreement, Skupnick would enter an Alford plea to gross neglect of a child resulting in death. In an Alford plea, a defendant doesn't admit guilt but acknowledges the prosecution has enough evidence to convict.

She also would cooperate in the prosecution of her co-defendant, 19-year-old Dominic Michael Hall of Hedgesville.

West Virginia State Police say the remains have been sent to the state Medical Examiner's Office.

Police recovered the remains after a West Virginia University faculty member and his class reported seeing something floating in the lake Tuesday night.

Medical examiner's office spokeswoman Marsha Dadisman tells The Dominion Post that the man has not been identified.

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va.-- A Rhode Island man remains in critical condition Wednesday after breathing more than 20 times the safe limit of carbon monoxide at a Corridor G hotel, police said.

A swimming pool heater is apparently to blame for the leak at the Holiday Inn Express at Corridor G Tuesday that killed William J. Moran, 44, and critically injured Bain Edmundson, 47, both of Rhode Island.

Edmundson remained in the Intensive Care Unit at St. Francis Hospital Wednesday, said South Charleston Assistant Chief of Police Robert Houck.

Assistant state fire marshal Scott Rhodes tells the Bluefield Daily Telegraph that the fire began on the third floor of the five-story Libby Building. The cause of the Jan. 24 fire remains undetermined.

A contractor hired by the city demolished the building after part of the structure collapsed. An adjacent building damaged by the collapse also has been torn down.

The Libby Building was built in the early 1920s. It housed 13 apartments, a bar and a vacant storehouse.

Marion County prosecutor Pat Wilson tells media outlets that he received the State Police's final report Monday.

Wilson asked the State Police in December to review the case after an internal investigation by the Sheriff's Department reached the same conclusion. He said at the time that an independent review in such incidents is best.

Deputy Chris Gearde shot and killed 45-year-old Michael Ray Rosser on Aug. 31, 2011.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County sheriff's deputies need help tracking down a car involved in a fatal hit and run accident last week.

Dennis Glen James, 47, of Elkview was crossing U.S. 119 at the Blue Creek Post Office at about 11:20 p.m. Jan. 27 when he was hit and killed by a car that then fled the scene, said Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

Crosier said deputies believe the car that hit James was either a 2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt or a 2007-2010 Pontiac G5. The two vehicles have identical body styles but were sold under different names.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Logan County fire crews won a battle with a fire that threatened two businesses in downtown Logan this morning.

James Casey, a firefighter with the Logan Fire Department, said a fire broke out in a vacant law office on Stratton Street about 2 a.m. The building is between B&B Loans and a Dollar General Store.

Three fire departments joined forces to battle the blaze, which was confined to the vacant building and extinguished by 6 a.m. Casey said the neighboring businesses were not seriously damaged.

Michelle Lynn Gillispie was shot dead on Monday.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Boone County man charged with fatally shooting a woman Monday said her death was an accident.

Police said the man attempted to pawn several items stolen from the woman's home after fleeing in her car.

John Edward "Eddie" Hudson, 38, had asked his friend, Mark Southern, if he could temporarily stay at the home Southern shared with his girlfriend, Michelle Lynn Gillispie, 38, said Kanawha County Sheriff's Deputy Lt. Sean Crosier.

Kenny Kemp

Donald Harmon was staying on the fifth floor of the Holiday Inn Express on Corridor G - the same floor where a Rhode Island man was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning on Tuesday morning.

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A swimming pool heater apparently caused a carbon monoxide leak that killed one man and critically injured another at a Corridor G hotel on Tuesday morning.

Officials were called to the Holiday Inn Express at Corridor G around 10 a.m. and arrived to find one man dead and another unresponsive, said Lt. G.E. Amburgey of the South Charleston Police Department. Both men were in their beds.

The men were part of a group of construction workers staying at the hotel. When they did not show up for a morning meeting, two other workers were sent to check on them. Those two workers were also overcome by the carbon monoxide.

Sgt. Bobby Eggleton of the Charleston Police Department said the two women apparently got into a fight over a man at the downtown Transit Mall about 10 a.m.

Nicole Lynn Dowd, 43, of Hutchinson Street, then stabbed Rachele Williams in the head with a pair of scissors, according to a criminal complaint on file in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

Eggleton said the Williams was taken to CAMC General Hospital, but that her injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

Media outlets report that a Monongalia County Circuit Court jury deliberated for two-and-a-half hours Monday before issuing its verdict in the trial of 20-year-old Andrew McIntyre.

McIntyre had been charged with first-degree murder.

Prosecutors said McIntyre shot 19-year-old Marcus Toothman with an arrow from a compound bow following an argument.

John Edward Hudson

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County sheriff's deputies have made an arrest in connection with the killing of a woman near Chesapeake on Monday.

According to Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department, Mark Southern came home from work about 6 p.m. Monday to find his girlfriend, Michelle Lynn Gillispie, 39, dead in their Winifrede Hollow home. Crosier said Gillispie had been shot behind the left ear.

Southern told deputies that John Edward Hudson, 38, of Ashford, had been staying at the home for a few days, Crosier said. Crosier said deputies then contacted Hudson, who agreed to turn himself in.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin says 51-year-old Charles Jeffrey Asher wore a security guard uniform and threatened tellers with a replica pistol during both robberies.

Asher entered his plea Monday in federal court in Huntington. Sentencing is set for May 3.

Asher admitted robbing the First Priority Federal Credit Union in Barboursville on Aug. 23, 2011 and a BB&T branch in Hurricane on Oct. 3, 2011.

Melvin Peters, 24, allegedly sold an unspecified quantity of crack cocaine in Charleston to a confidential informant who was working under the supervision of the Metro Drug Unit, according to a criminal complaint.

Kanawha Magistrate Paris Workman arraigned Peters and set his bail at $100,000 cash only.   

The shooting occurred Sunday at Woodlawn Cemetery in Bluewell. State Police troopers and Mercer County sheriff's deputies went to the cemetery in response to a report of a man armed with a rifle.

State Police Sgt. M.T. Baylous tells the Bluefield Daily Telegraph that 34-year-old Jackie Spalding Jr. fled from the officers after they arrived. He was found a short time later in a vehicle on a service road behind the cemetery mausoleum.

Baylous says Spalding repeatedly refused commands to show his hands as a trooper approached the vehicle. The trooper shot Spalding when he reached for the rifle.

Police tell media outlets that more than 50 people were involved in the fight early Sunday morning outside Yesterday's Night Club.

Police say University of Pikeville football player Branden Teasley was stabbed and is in stable condition. A teammate, Demetri Travis, suffered a concussion.

No arrests have been made.

The agency asked the state Public Service Commission in November to give it exclusive use of the 311 dialing code. On Friday, the PSC approved the agency's request to withdraw its petition.

Captain Michael Corsaro says that the Federal Communications Commission intended the 311 code to be used for all nonemergency systems, including fire departments and ambulance services.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- An Elkview man died in what polices say was a hit-and-run accident on Elk River Road Friday evening.

The Kanawha County Sheriff's Office is investigating the accident, which happened in the 5100 block of Elk River Road in Blue Creek, just north of the intersection of Blue Creek Road near the Blue Creek post office.

Deputies say a vehicle traveling north on Elk River Road struck and killed pedestrian Dennis Glen James, 47, around 11:20 p.m. as he crossed the road.

YAWKEY, W.Va. -- Police arrested a third person late Saturday in connection with a Monday hostage case in Morrisvale, the Boone County Sheriff's Department said.

The sheriff's department arrested Darrell McNeely, 40, of Julian and filed felony charges against him of accessory before and after the fact in connection with the alleged kidnapping and assault Chandra Clark.

Clark, 26, was allegedly raped and abused by her ex-husband, Barry Clark, and held hostage along with four other people late Monday and early Tuesday. Barry Clark faces several felony charges in connection with the incident, as does Melissa Breedlove, 39, who allegedly helped plan the attack.

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. -- A 71-year-old Lindside man has pleaded guilty to killing his wife and step-daughter.

WVAA-TV in Bluefield reports that Gerald Allison entered a plea to first-degree murder for the 2011 shooting death of his wife, 65-year old Dorothy Masters.

He pleaded to second-degree murder for the death of 42-year old Melissa Burks-Wills.

Anthony, 42, of Point Pleasant, is being paid by the county but has not returned to work as sheriff since he was arrested in November on a wanton-endangerment charge, said Dave Moye, Anthony's lawyer.

Anthony's filing came as Mason County commissioners began drafting a petition for his removal, expressing concern over the criminal charge and how he spent public money.

"He [Anthony] wants to show the people of Mason County that he is absolutely innocent," Moye said, "and that's what we will see with his jury trail and with his re-election campaign."

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Charleston man told police he was shot Friday morning on the city's West Side -- but police can't find the exact spot where the shooting happened.

Braheem Jamal Griffin, 18, of Charleston, told police someone shot him in the calf at about 8:30 a.m., said Charleston Police Sgt. Bobby Eggleton.

But Griffin could not describe his assailant and led police to three different locations where he believed he was shot, Eggleton said.

The West Virginia Surface Mine Board's order came Wednesday in an appeal of North Mountain Shale LLC's permit by Potomac Riverkeeper Inc., Gerrardstown Presbyterian Church and Washington Herald Trail.

The order says the quarry's impact on the area's viewshed will be minimal.

The order adds several conditions to the permit. One prohibits the company from disturbing more than 2 acres of the mineral area during the first year of operation.

An autopsy is scheduled today to determine the cause of death.

Thorn told WTOV-TV that officers went to the house Thursday morning after the woman's co-workers reported that she didn't show up for work.

The man was taken to a hospital. His condition wasn't known.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County sheriff's deputies said they found a gun under the car seat of a convicted felon during a traffic stop Thursday.

Deputy J.L. Miller pulled over a 1997 Chevrolet Malibu, driven by Earl M. Myers, 31, of Charleston, on West Washington Street for a traffic infraction, according to a news release from the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

WINFIELD, W.Va. -- An Ohio man is in jail after allegedly biting and using a stun gun on a State Police trooper.

Robin Earl Slater, 50, of Langsville, was asked for his drivers' license and registration at the 7-Eleven gas station on Teays Valley Road in St. Albans on Monday after police allegedly saw him jump a curb, according to a criminal complaint filed in Putnam County Magistrate Court.

Trooper B.K. Hammontree, of the Winfield detachment, said Slater ignored his request and allegedly began to back up his vehicle. Hammontree wrote in the complaint that he reached into the vehicle and put it in park, and struggled with Slater to take the keys from the ignition.

Police charged Dasean Markys Saunders, 19, of Hurricane, with first-degree robbery after Saunders attempted to rob a Husson's Pizza driver in Hurricane last week, according to a criminal complaint filed in Putnam County Magistrate Court.

Charleston Police have also charged Saunders for his alleged involvement in two pizza delivery driver robberies reported in Kanawha County in November.

On Jan. 20, Saunders ordered a pizza to an apartment at Sable Point Apartments in Hurricane and lured the driver, Morgan Vandergriff, behind a stairwell, according to the criminal complaint.

Joseph Coen Jr., 52, of Pinewood Drive in Sissonville, was arraigned this morning in Kanawha County Magistrate Court on a charge of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian.

According to a criminal complaint on file in magistrate court, Coen allegedly went into the bedroom of the 16-year-old girl on Sept. 5 and touched her breasts while she was sleeping. He then allegedly kissed her breasts and rubbed her stomach with his hands, according to the criminal complaint.

When the girl realized what was happening, Coen allegedly left the room, but came back a short time later and tried to apologize, the criminal complaint says. The girl told authorities Coen had rubbed her breasts at least one other time, the complaint alleges.

The Upshur County Sheriff's Department tells media outlets that a National Guard helicopter crew found the body of 55-year-old Gary Bailey on Wednesday.

Bailey was reported missing Tuesday evening. He was last seen Monday evening.

Police say Bailey had a medical condition and may have become disoriented.

Capt. James Agee of the St. Albans Police Department said Patrolman Sheila Moore stationed herself near the Nitro-St. Albans Bridge just before 11 p.m. Wednesday after hearing a radio report that a car had just been stolen at the Nitro Moose Lodge just across the Kanawha River.

Agee said the car came across the bridge and headed east on U.S. 60. He said Moore got the car stopped in the nearby Kroger parking lot.

Agee said the driver, Amy L. Johnston, 26, of Hurricane, surrendered without incident. She allegedly admitted to taking the car and that she "drove it like she stole it," Agee said. He said the car's owner was then brought to the scene to get her car back.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Kanawha County teenager was arrested Wednesday after deputies allegedly found a gun hidden in his car.

Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department said Deputy S.M. Adams pulled over an Oldsmobile Cutlass in West Dunbar at about noon because she couldn't read the license plate. Once she had the car stopped, the deputy noticed the 17-year-old driver was acting extremely nervous, Crosier said.

Crosier said Adams then allegedly discovered the boy had no driver's license. She then allegedly found a loaded .22 caliber revolver under the front passenger's seat.

Barry Wayne Clark

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Advocates for victims of domestic violence wondered Wednesday why a Boone County man accused of raping and beating his estranged wife and burning her house down on Monday was free on bond after repeatedly ignoring domestic violence petitions.

"This is just a tragic example of domestic violence, where a perpetrator continues to exercise power over the victim," said Michele Bush, director of the YWCA Resolve Family Abuse Program in Boone, Clay and Kanawha counties. The organization provides help and support for victims of domestic violence.

On Tuesday, Boone County sheriff's deputies arrested Barry Wayne Clark, 61, and charged him with first-degree sexual assault, stalking, malicious wounding, arson and five counts of kidnapping.

Kenny Kemp

Masafumi Kondo, superintendent of Japan's National Police Agency, meets with South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullens (right) and Chief of Police Brad Rinehart (left). Kondo was given a tour of the police station by Assistant Chief of Police Brad Houck (back).

Masafumi Kondo, who specializes in counterterrorism for the consulate general of Japan in New York City, said West Virginia is one of five states within his jurisdiction.

Kondo is responsible for checking in on the safety concerns of Japanese travelers within that jurisdiction. He said West Virginia has about 10,000 Japanese citizens working and attending college.

"I like to visit the police stations, to drop in and say hello," Kondo said. "If something were to happen with a Japanese citizen, it would be very easy to understand each other."

Last week, police said Cabell Franklin, 22, was shot and stabbed during a robbery at 22 Wildacre Drive in South Hills.

Police are looking for four men believed to have entered the home and took marijuana and cash from Franklin.

During the robbery, Franklin was shot in the leg and stabbed at least three times in the back and buttocks area, Sgt. Bobby Eggleton said.

Assistant state fire marshal Patrick Barker tells The Journal that the cause of the fire hasn't been determined. But he says it's likely electrical related.

The fire occurred Monday night in Shenandoah Junction.

Joseph Estevez tells The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown, Md., that the victims were his fiance, 24-year-old Jessica Cave, and her 2-year-old son, Dominic.

Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Plants said SWAT team members were "justified" in fatally shooting Omar R. Cowan, 33, during a Nov. 2 standoff that lasted more than two hours.

"Based on evidence, the suspect had two knives raised up in the air in tight quarters and he was approaching or coming at law enforcement," Plants said.

Plants led the criminal investigation into the shooting and said Tuesday that all physical evidence corroborated statements given by SWAT team members.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A grand jury has indicted a teen suspected of shooting two people to death during a drug deal in Kanawha City.

James Daughtery, 17, faces two counts of first-degree murder for the February 2010 killings of Carrie Pontier and Bruce Dueling. In October, Kanawha County Circuit Judge Carrie Webster ordered Daughtery's transfer to adult status.

Court records indicate that Daughtery shot Pontier and Dueling as he sat in the backseat of Dueling's car. The killings were allegedly an attempt by Daughtery to "earn his stripes" as a drug runner.

Lamont Van Harris, 38, allegedly shot Travis Bush, 30, several times on Sept. 17 outside the West Dunbar Market, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

Harris was on federal probation at the time, stemming from a 2002 conviction.

Bush and a relative were coming out of the store when Harris began firing a 9-milimeter pistol at them, striking Bush in the leg, the criminal complaint said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Mason County Board of Education member who was indicted earlier this month on fraud charges resigned Tuesday, the day after she was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence.

Police say Teresa Lynn Warner, 52, of Point Pleasant, crossed the centerline four times while driving on W.Va. 2, according to a criminal complaint filed in Mason County Magistrate Court.

Warner smelled strongly of alcohol, according to the complaint, and failed three field sobriety tests. Her blood alcohol content was 0.18 percent, according to the complaint, more than twice West Virginia's legal limit of 0.08 percent.

McClatchy Newspapers

Mladen Antolic appears at a hearing in Orange County court last September. Antolic is an Orlando doctor accused of running a pill mill and hosting wild sex and drug parties at his home.

The letter, which some have referred to as a "blacklist," has been criticized as discriminatory, and at least one Orlando doctor is firing back with legal action, claiming CVS has essentially pegged him as a criminal.

But CVS also is being praised for taking the measure at a time when prescription-drug abuse has reached epidemic proportions in Florida.

The company, which has more than 700 stores in Florida, refused to answer any specific questions about why or how it compiled the list. The company also won't say how many doctors statewide were notified that their prescriptions no longer would be filled.

SCARBRO, W.Va. -- Fayette County authorities are looking for someone who broke into a health clinic in Scarbro this morning and made off with hundreds of prescription pills.

Fayette County 911 dispatchers were alerted at about 4:20 a.m. by an alarm at the New River Family Health Center Pharmacy, according to Fayette County Sheriff Steve Kessler. When deputies got there, they discovered someone had broken in by prying open several doors.

Kessler said about 700 oxycodone pills, with an estimated value of about $1,500, were stolen.

Chandra Clark of Rattlesnake Hollow Road, near Morrisvale, came home at about 9 p.m. Monday with four friends from a grocery-shopping trip to find her estranged husband, Barry Wayne Clark, inside the house, according to Boone County Sheriff Rodney Miller. Barry Clark, 61, allegedly was armed with a knife and a handgun.

Miller said Barry Clark locked the four friends in a bathroom while he repeatedly beat and sexually assaulted his estranged wife. He then allegedly released the four hostages and ordered them to set fire to the house.

Barry Clark allegedly then ordered the hostages away from the house, threatening to kill them if they told police, Miller said. The sheriff said Chandra Clark made it outside the house, but was beaten again by neighbors who are on her husband's side in the dispute.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County sheriff's deputies intend to file charges against a St. Albans teenager who allegedly caused a crash in eastern Kanawha County on Monday that injured four people, including a young child.

Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department said Steven Adam Young, 18, of St. Albans was driving a 2001 Ford F-150 pickup truck on Hughes Creek Road about 7:30 p.m. when he apparently failed to stop at a stop sign and slammed into a 1997 Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by Kayla Burdette, 17, of Cedar Grove.

Burdette was by herself, but Young was accompanied by Alisha Smith, 18 and Bryland Smith, age 4, Crosier said. He said all four were injured and were taken to CAMC General Hospital with neck, back and head injuries.