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Osprey Drive man charged in attempted car theft

BUCKHANNON – An Osprey Drive man was arraigned on several charges Friday after sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of someone attempting to steal a vehicle at Wendling Plaza.

Roger Lee Smith, 41, of 47 Osprey Drive, was charged with a felony count of attempting to commit grand larceny and misdemeanor counts of carrying a concealed deadly weapon and possession of a controlled substance, according to court records.

Smith was arraigned in Upshur County Magistrate Court and was being held on $75,000 bond, records show.

Cpl. Jason Queen, Sgt. M. Powers and Cpl. D. Linger of the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to the location after a neighbor reported seeing a man break into a Jeep Cherokee, according to a criminal complaint filed against Smith.

The witness watched the man sitting in the vehicle and told officials it looked as if he was attempting to steal it, records show.

When officers arrived on the scene, an individual they later identified as Smith was still sitting inside the vehicle, police allege. Officers noted a window was broken out of the jeep, with broken glass strewn around outside and inside the vehicle.

The steering column was broken, and officers found a bent screwdriver in the floor of the vehicle, according to court documents.

The officers ordered Smith out of the vehicle and searched him. They found an illegal swtichblade knife and six and a half hydrocodone pills, records show.

Smith told police he was sitting in the vehicle because it was for sale and he wanted to look at it, according to the criminal complaint. He said he didn’t notice the broken window or the glass on the ground and in the vehicle.

The vehicle’s owner told officers he stopped by the vehicle earlier and it wasn’t damaged, records show.

In another court case:

– Shane Donald Weese, 31, of 118 High School Ave., Buckhannon, was arraigned Friday on a charge of second-offense driving under the influence after flipping his vehicle on Brushy Fork Road.

He was released on $5,000 bond.

Weese was driving a blue Mercedes ML 350 on Brushy Fork when the vehicle went off the roadway and into a ditch, where it flipped end over end, according to court documents filed by Upshur County sheriff’s Deputy D. Linger.

Witnesses who saw the crash said the vehicle was being operated in a reckless manner, court records show.

When officers made contact with the driver, later identified as Weese, he was unsteady on his feet, according to court reports.

Officers noted an odor of alcohol and administered field sobriety tests, records show. Weese’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.14 percent, police allege.

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