Bennett

PHILIPPI – A Philippi resident is behind bars after allegedly kidnapping a man and forcing him to use meth for two days.

Joshua Alanceson Bennett, 43, of Philippi, is charged with kidnapping, a felony. He is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail without bond.

According to the criminal complaint, the alleged victim told police that he met Bennett, who he knew by the nickname “Jungle,” on the dating app Grinder. He said Bennett picked him up in Elkins, and then drove him to Philippi.

The alleged victim said he asked Bennett three times to let him out of the car on the way to Philippi, the complaint states. While at Bennett’s residence in Philippi, the alleged victim said he was “force fed meth for two days straight.” He said he witnessed “several people in the house using meth.”

The alleged victim said, while at the house, Bennett “was going to attempt to tie the hands of (the alleged victim) before he was persuaded not to,” according to the complaint. The alleged victim said he asked to leave the house, but Bennett threatened to “hit him in the face with the rings on his hand” and to “smash his head against a rock.”

The alleged victim told police he “waited for everyone in the house to fall asleep before escaping and reaching out to 911,” the complaint states.