Meadows

ELKINS — A Mabie man is behind bars after he allegedly fled from West Virginia State Police troopers in a stolen vehicle.

Joseph Michael Meadows, 60, is facing a fleeing while DUI charge in Barbour County and a grand larceny charge in Randolph County. He is currently being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $40,000 cash or surety bond from Barbour County and a $25,000 cash-only bond set in Randolph County by Magistrate Tracy M. Harper.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Randolph County Magistrate Court by Senior Trooper B.S. Stout, on June 9, Barbour Communications advised Stout of a stolen vehicle that was traveling on Talbott Road in Barbour County and that the Ford truck had just been stolen from Coalton-Pumpkintown Road in Randolph County. The owner of the stolen vehicle was following the truck as it made its way into Barbour County.

According to the complaint, Stout located the vehicle on Audra Park Road, where he activated his sirens and attempted to pull the truck over.

“This officer then observed the vehicle to slow to a speed of 35-40 mph and then accelerated to continue to flee,” Stout writes in the complaint. “This officer continued behind the truck giving verbal commands and which time the vehicle drove into a wire gate, breaking the gate with the front of the truck.”

According to the complaint, Stout continued to follow the vehicle when it stopped and Meadows allegedly began to flee on foot. Stout gave Meadows verbal commands to stop and “this officer assisted the male subject to the ground where he continued to fight and kick at this officer and Barbour County Deputy C. Parks.”

“This officer then dry stunned the subject to gain compliance and gain control of his hands so this officer and Deputy Parks could detain the subject,” Stout writes in the complaint.

It states in the complaint, that officers could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from Meadows’ breath as he was read his Miranda rights. Meadows said he had drank three to four beers while he was being checked by EMS. Stout was advised that when the wire gate was rammed, the stolen vehicle had received a significant amount of damage and that the value of the truck was approximately $8,500.

According to the complaint, officers were advised, Meadows had an expired driver’s license. Meadows would not consent to a breath sample or a blood draw. Meadows was taken and released from Davis Medical Center and transported to TVRJ.