Cutright

BUCKHANNON – A wanted Upshur County man has been caught after he allegedly fled from police and crashed his vehicle while mistakenly believing an unrelated traffic stop was the police “chasing” him.

Joshua Dale Cutright, 36, also known as “Cutty,” is charged with one count of fleeing from law enforcement officers in a vehicle showing a reckless indifference to safety of others, a felony. Cutright is also charged with one count of driving while suspended or revoked for DUI and one count of second offense driving with license revoked, both misdemeanors.

Cutright is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $16,000 surety/cash bond.

According to the criminal complaint, filed by Cpl. Tyler A. Gordon with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office, on Oct. 14, Gordon was conducting an unrelated traffic stop on Kesling Mill Road when Cutright, who was traveling west on the same road, allegedly observed the emergency lights on Gordon’s vehicle and “abruptly” performed an illegal U-turn in the roadway.

Cutright allegedly accelerated rapidly and fled from Gordon “for miles” before ultimately crashing the vehicle, the complaint states. Gordon writes that Cutright’s fleeing led to the damaging of a 2024 Dodge Durango patrol vehicle.

Cutright was apprehended, and a witness, who was in the vehicle with Cutright, was interviewed, the complaint states. The witness allegedly told Gordon that Cutright had seen the emergency lights during the unrelated traffic stop and “thought the police were chasing him.”

According to the complaint, Cutright and the witness were both aware that Cutright was wanted by police. The witness also allegedly told police that Cutright was driving so fast that they crashed on an unknown road, which made the witness fear for their safety.

Cutright’s driver’s license was revoked in 2022 for multiple DUI convictions, the complaint states. He also has one previous conviction from May for driving with a license revoked for DUI.

On Sept. 23, the Upshur County Sheriff’s office declared Cutright to be a wanted man for a felony capias warrant after he failed to appear in court. 

Cutright was among six individuals arrested by the Mountain Region Drug and Violent Crime Task Force in May. On Sept. 10, he was indicted by the Upshur County Grand Jury for delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school, fentanyl, and conspiracy to violate Chapter 60A, Article 4, Section 401 of the W. Va. Code, both felonies.