Jeffries

BUCKHANNON — Two Upshur County men are facing felony charges for intimidation and retaliation against a witness after allegedly assaulting a woman with a weed eater.

John Joseph Jeffries Jr., 40, is charged with retaliation against a witness and violation of a temporary protective order, both felonies. He is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $25,000 cash-only bond.

Dominick Payne Williams, 20, is charged with intimidation of a witness, possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, and a person under 21 in possession of a concealed deadly weapon, all felonies. He is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on $75,000 and $25,000 cash-only bonds.

The criminal complaints ,filed by Cpl. T. R. Collins with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department, state that on July 1, Collins received a call regarding a “mental/emotional” female that was found naked near Bailey Ridge Road.

The alleged victim told Collins that Jeffries had picked her up from her mother’s home on June 26 and she had been with Jeffries or at Jeffries’ residence since that date, the complaint states.

The alleged victim told Collins that they had used methamphetamine at Jeffries’ residence and she was currently high. She was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital “due to her condition.”

According to the complaint, Jeffries was not permitted to have direct or indirect contact with the alleged victim due to a protective order that was part of a bail agreement signed on May 28.

On June 15, Collins writes that the alleged victim came to speak with him, the complaint states. During the interview, the alleged victim told Collins that, from June 25 to July 1, Jeffries and Williams had given her methamphetamine and “used an iPhone to record acts of the victim.” She also stated that Williams had “choked and chock-slammed” her during this time.

While at Jeffries’ residence, the alleged victim said she was able to grab hold of the iPhone and put herself in Jeffries’ Jeep while actively recording video, the complaint states. Jeffries, during this time, was attempting to unlock the Jeep while Williams was “circling the Jeep, attempting to get in… to retrieve the phone.” Jeffries was also “actively wielding” a running weed-eater, the alleged victim told Collins.

After Jeffries and Williams eventually stepped away from the vehicle, the alleged victim says she waited a few more minutes before stepping out of the vehicle and attempting to walk, the complaint states. Upon the alleged victim stepping out of the vehicle, Jeffries used the running weed-eater “to inflict lacerations on the foot” of the alleged victim while telling her to stay in the vehicle. The alleged victim told Collins that Jeffries and Williams wanted the phone because it had footage of Jeffries’ “lunging towards her.”

Collins writes that he observed the lacerations on the alleged victim’s foot during his first encounter with her on July 1, the complaint states.

Jeffries and Williams were aware of the protective order against Jeffries and videos on the iPhone show “show evidence of a crime,” which, Collins states, both men were attempting to retrieve the phone, “thus not allowing the victim to provide evidence in an official proceeding,” according to the complaint.

A search warrant at the Bailey Ridge Road residence resulted in Williams’ being located and arrested, the complaint states. After being Mirandaized, Williams allegedly admitted to using methamphetamine and being in possession of a pistol in his vehicle.

On July 16, Collins executed another search warrant for the residence and located a “black Apache plastic case” in the trunk of Williams’ vehicle, the complaint states. Inside the bag was a black Lorcin 9mm pistol with a loaded magazine, a bag of packing materials and a black magnetic box with a “white crystal-like substance.”

Inside the black magnetic box, Collins writes that he found an American Express card, three bundles of money totaling approximately $2,400, a set of scales with a “white crystal-like substance,” a white plastic tray and a blue metal canister with a bag of orange G AMP XR 30mg pills and a bag of a “white crystal-like substance” inside. Several cellphones were also found in Williams’ vehicle.

Inside the residence, Collins found a methamphetamine smoking device with white residue on it, brass knuckles and an orange pill bottle, “belonging to John Jeffries,” that contained approximately 26 orange G AMP XR 30mg pills that were identical to ones found in the vehicle, the complaint states.

Preliminary hearings for Jeffries and Williams are scheduled for Thursday at Upshur County.

Williams