Himes

BELINGTON — A Barbour County man is facing felony charges after allegedly punching a Sheriff’s deputy multiple times in the face and breaking Sheriff’s Office property.

Nevan Michael Himes, 29, is charged with one count of malicious assault on an officer and one count of destruction of property, both felonies. Himes is currently being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $100,000 property/surety bond.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Deputy N.G. Elbon with the Barbour County Sheriff’s Office, on April 27, Elbon responded to an apartment on Crim Avenue in Belington in regards to a male subject, Himes, “throwing things inside the apartment building and screaming.”

Upon arrival, Elbon could not locate Himes inside the apartment complex, but could hear Himes yelling, the complaint states. After speaking with other residents in the complex, Elbon was able to locate Himes behind the building, along Elliot Avenue. Elbon began to walk towards Himes and observed Himes allegedly shouting curse words while holding a large stick and smacking it repeatedly on the ground.

Elbon then returned to his cruiser to put on his body-worn camera (BWC), the complain states. After putting on his BWC, Elbon returned to where he last saw Himes, but Himes had left. Elbon writes that he could still hear Himes yelling.

After walking towards Bridge Street, Elbon located Himes, who was walking towards Crim Avenue, the complaint states. Upon making contact, Elbon asked Himes “what his issue was.” Himes allegedly yelled something Elbon did not understand while waving his arms up and down. When Elbon advised Himes not to yell at him, Himes reportedly responded by saying “F**k off.”

Elbon advised Himes to come to him, to which Himes allegedly stated “I told you to leave me the f**k alone, b***h,” the complaint states. Elbon once again advised Himes to come with him and that he had already received a warning for disorderly conduct prior in the day. Himes reportedly said, “No” and then yelled “Bam” before walking away. Elbon writes that Himes acted in a “very irate and unpredictable manner.”

According to the complaint, Elbon followed Himes down Crim Avenue, giving multiple commands for Himes to stop and place his hands behind his back. Himes allegedly continued to refuse all commands and reportedly stated “Do you want me to shoot you, d**k?”

After Elbon put his gloves on, he grabbed Himes by the wrist to place him in restraints, the complaint states. Himes allegedly became tense and “locked his arms straight.” Elbon guided Himes against the side of his patrol cruiser and placed Himes’ left hand in restraints. Himes then reportedly attempted to turn towards Elbon “in an aggressive manner” while moving towards the front of the vehicle.

In order to gain compliance, Elbon writes that he attempted to place Himes on the ground, but “due to Himes being on higher ground,” Elbon was unable to do it. During this, Himes allegedly pushed Elbon backwards, tripping him on the higher ground.

Himes then allegedly began to punch Elbon in the face “multiple times,” the complaint states. During this, Elbon writes that he delivered multiple “compliance strikes” to Himes. Himes reportedly began to use the metal hand restraints as a weapon, punching Elbon in the face with them.

During this incident, Himes allegedly grabbed the mic off of Elbon’s uniform and pulled it across Elbon’s throat, the complaint states. Elbon writes that, “due to the severity of the situation,” he attempted to place distance between himself and Himes so he could administer Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray.

While attempting to get distance between himself and Himes, Himes reportedly ripped the radio off of Elbon’s duty belt, the complaint states. Himes then allegedly used the mic cord to swing the radio, trying to hit Elbon. When he could not reach Elbon, Himes allegedly threw the radio at Himes in another attempt to hit him.

When Elbon was able to get enough distance between him and Himes, he administered the OC spray, the complaint states. However, while using the spray on Himes, the wind blew some of it back onto Elbon, making him unable to see out his right eye.

According to the complaint, after this, Himes sat on the ground and allegedly continued to refuse all commands to lay down and place his hands behind his back. Elbon was returning to his cruiser to use the radio when Himes reportedly got up and began walking towards Elbon, stating he was going home.

Grabbing his taser from his cruiser, Elbon advised Himes to stop, to which Himes allegedly refused, the complaint states. Elbon shot Himes with the taser, which placed Himes on the ground. When Himes began to get up, Elbon administered another shock from the taser, placing Himes back on the ground. Himes allegedly continued to refuse commands and attempted to push himself up off the ground, resulting in another shock.

Elbon was able to grab onto the hand restraints still on Himes’ left wrist and place it behind Himes’ back, the complaint states. Himes was then placed into custody.

Elbon writes in the complaint that a new Motorola APX8000 radio is approximately $8,000 with additional costs for the mic and programming.