Strickland

ELKINS — The case against an Ohio man accused of attempting to run over an Elkins Police Department officer with his vehicle in March is headed to the grand jury after probable cause was found in a hearing this week.

Kevin Allen Strickland, 32, of Sunbury, Ohio, appeared in Randolph County Magistrate Court for his preliminary hearing.

Strickland is charged with attempted murder and fleeing with reckless indifference. He is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $100,000 cash bond.

At the hearing’s start, Assistant Randolph County Prosecutor Leckta Poling called Patrolman J.H. White with the Elkins City Police to testify. White is both the responding officer and the alleged victim in this case.

White testified that, around 11 p.m. on March 27, he initiated a traffic stop on Strickland on North Randolph Avenue. Strickland’s vehicle had a driver’s side headlight out, White explained.

White stated that Strickland informed White that he did not have insurance on the vehicle, and during their conversation, White noticed that Strickland “wouldn’t make eye contact” and “was making erratic movements.” White said this led him to have “reasonable suspicion that something else was going on.”

After White asked if there was anything in Strickland’s vehicle that would alert White’s canine, Strickland admitted there was marijuana in the vehicle, White said. 

When White asked Strickland to exit the vehicle, White said Strickland replied, “No,” and then “sped off” in the vehicle before making a u-turn in the road and driving toward White.

“Once he did the u-turn, he was in his correct lane of travel,” White told the court. “He then left his lane of travel, going into the opposite lane and sped towards me at a high rate of speed.”

White explained that he had to jump “behind (his) cruiser, into the ditch area” to avoid being hit by Strickland’s vehicle. When asked by Poling, White estimated Strickland’s vehicle got as close as five feet from him.

Strickland then returned to his correct lane of travel and drove down Railroad Avenue, White said. White and another officer began a pursuit, following Strickland on Railroad Avenue, Davis Avenue and back to North Randolph where they then lost sight of Strickland.

White stated that, during the pursuit, Strickland “ran multiple stop signs” and “crossed the center lane multiple times.” When Poling asked how fast was Strickland going, White said that he and the other officer had to pursue Strickland while going 90 mph on 25-mph speed limit roads before they lost sight of him. White said he did not see any other vehicles or pedestrians due to it being late at night.

Strickland was extradited from Ohio on April 10, White told the court. Before taking Strickland to the Randolph County Magistrate Court for arraignment, White interviewed Strickland. White told the court that, after Strickland signed a Miranda Rights form, he told White that he fled because “a voice on the radio was telling him to do it” and that he understood he caused White to “fear for the safety of (his) life.” White said Strickland also apologized to him.

During cross examination, Strickland’s lawyer, Paul Gwaltney, questioned White as to why Strickland was not immediately taken to the Randolph County Magistrate Court for arraignment after being extradited. White explained that it is procedure to conduct an interview with an extradited suspect if it pertains to the investigation of the suspect’s alleged crime, and the suspect is willing to speak to police. White also reiterated that Strickland had agreed to the interview and signed off on his Miranda Rights.

Gwaltney also began questioning how Strickland was able to make a u-turn, aim his vehicle at White and his cruiser and yet miss both. Gwaltney and White spent several minutes breaking down how Strickland’s vehicle moved that night, while Gwaltney drew a diagram.

Gwaltney then asked how was White able to witness Strickland driving recklessly if the other officer in the pursuit was ahead of White. White reiterated that Strickland crossed into the center of the road several times and that was how he was able to see how recklessly Strickland was driving.

In closing remarks, Poling asked Randolph County Magistrate Benjamin Shepler to find probable cause against Strickland based on White’s testimony.

Gwaltney, in his closing remarks, said he would not address Strickland’s fleeing with reckless indifference charge, but said he did not believe there was probable cause for the attempted murder charge as White’s testimony alone was “not sufficient.”

“For attempted murder, you have to have malicious intent,” Gwaltney said. “The description we have from the officer is inconsistent… how in this 15-16-year-old vehicle is (Strickland) almost striking (White), heading directly towards (White’s) vehicle and then veering off? I think that alone raises significant questions.”

Shepler, before finding probable cause against Strickland, commented that probable cause “is a low standard.”