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BUCKHANNON -- An Upshur County man is facing a felony charge after allegedly attacking a woman at the Little General Convenience Store this week.
Joseph Michael Snider, 57, is charged with third-degree domestic battery. Snider is currently being held at Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $10,000 surety/cash bond.
According to the criminal complaint filed by Patrolman Cole Bender with the Buckhannon Police Department, on May 4, Bender, Patrolman D. R. Major and Sgt. Tom Posey responded to the Little General Convenience Store on 9 Old Weston Road in Buckhannon for a reported assault.
Bender writes that he and Posey made contact with Snider, who matched a description of the suspect given by a witness, behind the One Main Financial building. Snider told Bender that he and the alleged victim had "gotten into a fight and he was walking home," the complaint states.
Major spoke with a witness, according to the complaint, who said she saw Snider yelling at the alleged victim and attempted to separate the two. The witness told Major that Snider then left the store, but came back and allegedly hit the alleged victim "in the side of the head."
The alleged victim provided a written statement "that aligned with the facts of the witness's statement," and added that Snider allegedly "shoved her to the ground" while in the gambling hall, the complaint states.
Bender said in the complaint that, though it played at a low frame rate, he was able to observe footage from the Little General Convenience Store of the incident. The footage allegedly shows Snider "standing with a balled-up fist" and the alleged victim "with her hand up in a defensive position." The footage allegedly then showed the alleged victim "cowering down" and Snider with a drawn back fist as the witness tried to intervene. The complaint also alleges that the footage then shows the witness pushed Snider away while the alleged victim "held her head."
A preliminary hearing is scheduled to determine probable cause in the case today at the Upshur County Magistrate Court.