Roy

BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man is facing multiple felony charges after allegedly stealing a tractor/mower worth about $8,000.

James Anderson Roy, 59, has been charged with grand larceny, conspiracy to commit grand larceny, and two counts of persons prohibited from possessing firearms, all felonies; and drivers license revoked for DUI, a misdemeanor.

He is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $35,000 cash-only bond.

According to the criminal complaints, prepared by Deputy Tyler A. Gordon of the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office, on June 18, officers received a report of a tractor being stolen from property belonging to Clayton Homes in Buckhannon. The owner of the tractor said he was responsible for cutting the grass at the Clayton Homes location, and had parked on the property the 2007 Kobota BX1850 tractor/mower, with a bucket attachment, valued at approximately $8,000.

The Upshur County Sheriff’s Office received a tip that, early on June 16, Roy “had a similar vehicle … brought into his residence,” the complaint states. Officers then found that the mower was at Roy’s residence, with a VIN number that matched the reported stolen mower.

Roy allegedly changed his story several times while speaking to the officers, according to the complaint. Roy’s drivers license is revoked for “DUI, with an effective date of March 31, 2005 for a DUI causing death charge.” Roy has reportedly “been charged with driving while revoked for DUI at least six times, including five dismissed charges (one in Randolph County and four in Upshur County) and one pending charge.”

Video surveillance was obtained from the Clayton Homes property, “showing a male, matching the general description of the defendant, driving the stolen vehicle from the Clayton Homes property, into the darkness,” the complaint states. According to the video, “the theft occurred at approximately 10:30 p.m.” on June 15.

Officers obtained a search warrant for Roy’s cell phone, which contained photos and videos that Roy “took with his cellphone of him driving a motor vehicle in French Creek,” the complaint states.

Court documents also state that Roy purchased a 9mm handgun from an individual in French Creek, and then sold that firearm and another one to a “known associate who uses methamphetamine.” A search warrant of that person’s residence led to the location and seizure of those two guns. Roy’s cellphone contained photos and cellphones of “additional firearms that the defendant was attempting to sell,” according to the complaint.

The criminal complaint states that Roy “has a long, violent criminal history” including an aggravated robbery charge in 1984; a third-degree sexual assault charge in 1994; a DUI third offense charge in 2008; and a failure to register as a sex offender, second or subsequent charge in 2011.