Golden

BUCKHANNON — An Upshur County man faces felony charges after allegedly leading police on a 100-mph chase while under the influence.

Scott Patrick Golden, 24, is charged with fleeing from law enforcement officers in a vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and fleeing from law enforcement officers in a vehicle showing a reckless indifference to safety of others, both felonies. He is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $50,000 cash-only bond.

According to the criminal complaint, filed by Patrolman Christopher Spotloe with the Buckhannon Police Department, on Aug. 8, Spotloe observed a vehicle cross the center line and “jerking erratically left and right” when making the turn onto West Main Street. When coming to a red light, Spotloe also observed the driver turn into the left turning lane before suddenly jerking the vehicle into the right turning lane, “crossing over the solid white pavement marking that separates the two turning lanes, while braking erratically.”

The driver then began traveling west on West Main Street “while still jerking the car left and right and driving over the center line,” the complaint states. Spotloe writes that, when he initiated his emergency blue lights, the vehicle began to slow down and crossed over to the center lane before accelerating down West Main Street. The vehicle crossed the center lane again into the southbound lane driving in the yellow median pavement, which led to Spotloe initiating his siren.

The vehicle would again cross over into the southbound lane while traveling approximately 70 mph and would then begin to “fishtail” as the driver once again went over the center lane while accelerating to approximately 90 mph, the complaint states. The vehicle still continued to jerk left and right and stay in the middle of the road.

Spotloe writes that he then observed the vehicle travel into the southbound lane around the turn near 511 Old Weston Road at approximately 95 mph. The driver then, once again, returned into the middle of the road while driving at approximately 100 mph. The vehicle would reach approximately 108 mph near 1221 Old Weston Road, police said.

According to the complaint, Spotloe observed the vehicle attempt to take the turn at Schmitty’s Suzuki-Kawasaki Yamaha before turning sideways and crashing over the bank at 2377-2593 Old Weston Road.

When Spotloe made contact with the vehicle, he could “smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage” and located a “monster BEAST alcoholic drink that was still cold,” the complaint states. The vehicle’s passenger was still in his seatbelt, though Spotloe writes that he couldn’t identify them.

The driver of the vehicle, later identified as Golden, was “initially unconscious” and laying on the roof of the car. Spotloe states that both Golden and the passenger began to “moan and react” to his flash light. Golden and the passenger were transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Spotloe writes that, after receiving a warrant, two vials of Golden’s blood were collected. Golden told Spotloe that he had been the driver and when Spotloe asked why he didn’t stop, Golden allegedly replied, “I was listening to music and driving.”