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ELKINS -- A man was arrested and accused of making false claims about terrorists and children in danger at the Elkins Walmart Thursday.
Stephen Mason, 31, was transported to the Tygart Valley Regional Jail and was held on a $500 cash-only bond.
According to a Randolph County Sheriff's Office press release, Mason was placed under arrest and accused of false reporting of an emergency after he called Randolph County 911 with what turned out to be untrue claims.
At approximately 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Deputy J. Wolfe of the Randolph County Sheriff's Office was advised that Mason called 911 and claimed that someone committed obscene mutilation acts on children in the Walmart bathroom, the release states. Wolfe contacted Mason via telephone and Mason told the deputy the subjects were terrorists and were parked in three black trucks in the parking lot of Walmart.
"Mr. Mason advised he was going to pull the people out of the vehicles so I could arrest them when I got there," Wolfe wrote in the report. "I advised Mr. Mason to not go near the vehicles and to stay on the other side of the parking lot."
When Wolfe arrived on the scene, he observed Mason standing next to the north entrance of the parking lot, according to the release. Mason told the deputy that people were committing obscene mutilation acts on children in the store bathroom and were hurting little boys in the three trucks.
Wolfe proceeded to speak to the people in the trucks and saw no sign of any type of abuse between adults and children, the release states.
"The children appeared happy and healthy," Wolfe wrote in his report.
The press release states that law enforcement in Randolph County had received several calls on Mason days prior to the incident. At those times, Mason had been warned about breach of peace and disorderly conduct in relation to separate incidents.
On Thursday, Mason appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance, had pinpoint pupils and was visibly shaking, sweating and speaking wildly, the release states.
"These false claims not only took time away from officers using their time for investigations and crime prevention in Randolph County, but Mr. Mason's statement to me via telephone about confronting the people he reported to be committing atrocious acts against children, puts the citizens of Randolph County in danger," Wolfe wrote.