Photos courtesy of the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office A blue Chevy Blazer driven by Edward Patton struck multiple structures at the Burgess Mobile Home Park in Beverly, including a storage building and single-wide trailer, police said. The storage building was destroyed and the trailer also had significant damage. Patton was arrested and is currently lodged in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail.

Patton

Police said that Patton was reportedly paying attention to an electronic tablet while driving the vehicle.

BEVERLY — A man is behind bars after police say he damaged multiple structures with his vehicle while looking at an electronic tablet and driving at a high rate of speed.

Edward Patton, 34, has been charged with reckless driving. He is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $1,500 cash-only bond.

According to a release from the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Zachary Pingley of was dispatched to a single-vehicle accident at the Burgess Mobile Home Park on Thursday. Once on scene, Pingley observed damage to several structures.

Pingley first observed a black tire mark leaving the roadway before Burgess MHP, the release reads. Pingley stated he saw where a vehicle had struck a road sign, a telephone pole and a support beam at the Crest Ridge Storage facility before continuing over an embankment and striking a storage building at the Burgess MHP.

Pingley wrote that the vehicle continued at a high rate of speed after destroying the building and then struck a single-wide trailer and the trailer’s back porch. In addition to the destruction to the outside of the trailer and porch, the interior of the trailer was also damaged.

The report states that the vehicle was a blue Chevy Blazer driven by Patton and that he was distracted while driving. It was later learned that Patton was reportedly paying attention to an electronic tablet while driving. It was determined that he was allegedly driving his vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than reasonable because of the wet road conditions and light rain.

The trailer was unoccupied at the time of the accident. The extensive damage was estimated to be in the thousands of dollars. Patton was placed under arrest for the willful and wanton disregard of property while driving, according to the report.