West

ELKINS — Probable cause was found in the case of a Randolph County man accused of trying to intimidate a Sheriff’s Deputy, moving the case forward to be considered by the Randolph County Grand Jury.

Ernest Ray West, 69, of Beverly, is charged with one count of intimidation of and retaliation against public officers and employees, a felony. He is also charged with one count of aggravated DUI, and five counts of false telephone report of emergency, all misdemeanors. West is currently being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on four cash-only bonds that total $29,500.

West appeared in Randolph County Magistrate Court on Tuesday for a preliminary hearing with attorney Morris Davis. The state was represented by Randolph County Assistant Prosecutor Christina Harper. Randolph County Magistrate Tracy Harper presided over the case and found probable cause against West, moving the case to be examined by the Randolph County Grand Jury.

Before the hearing began, Davis asked the court to consider modifying and reducing West’s bond for this particular case from $25,000 cash-only to $2,500 property/surety, property/cash or some other form. Davis stated that West had close ties to the community for over 40 years and was “not necessarily a threat to the community.” Christina Harper said the state was against the modification and reduction, arguing that West was a threat as all of his charges showed “progressive behavior” and that the aggravated DUI charge shows danger to the community. Tracy Harper denied the motion to modify and reduce West’s bond after finding probable cause.

Christina Harper called Deputy S.R. Schoonover with the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office to testify before the court. Schoonover filed the criminal complaint against West for the intimidation and retaliation charge.

Schoonover told the court that he received a request to return a public service to West regarding the firearm. According to criminal complaints filed by Deputy A.G. Vanscoy, also with the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, West had allegedly phoned Randolph County 911 on over 10 separate occasions regarding the return of the firearm and had been told repeatedly not to do so. Schoonover also told the court that West was told numerous times to stop calling Randolph County 911 about the firearm as it was in an evidence locker pending further information.

Schoonover said, when he called West, he explained that the firearm was still pending release as the Sheriff’s Office’s evidence custodians wanted to wait for approval from the Randolph County Prosecutor’s Office. Schoonover told the court that West said “Well, that’s beside the point, how about you meet me up 4-H out of uniform, and let’s fight for the gun.” When Schoonover repeated that the gun could not be released yet, West said, “I’m tired of this f***ing bulls**t, you’re holding my…” Schoonover said he hung up the call before it escalated further.

Later that same day, Schoonover said that West was arrested for the aggravated DUI charge during a traffic stop. Schoonover told the court that when he arrived on the scene, West singled him out and stated, “I told the motherf***er I’d meet him up 4-H and I’d whip his f***ing a** any day of the week. It was you, ain’t it?”

During cross-examination, Davis asked Schoonover where he was when he called West, to which Schoonover said he was parked in the Dunham’s Sports parking lot. Davis then asked whether or not Schnoover knew if West was anywhere near the parking lot and was going to act on his words at that time. Schoonover said he did not. Davis focused on that the intimidation of and retaliation against public officers and employees charge depended on if the threat was a “credible concrete” one.

Davis repeatedly asked Schoonover if the comment about meeting at the 4-H camp to fight over the gun seemed like an open-ended proposal and if a time and date was ever set for such a fight. Schoonover said no, there was never any time or date set. Schoonover stated that, in his line of work as an officer, all threats must be taken seriously and they could be carried out regardless of the location. He also stated that he did inform his superiors of what West said during the phone call before the aggravated DUI arrest occurred.

In closing arguments, Christina Harper said that the state had proved probable cause through Schoonover’s testimony. She told the court “your words are what your words are,” referring to the statements West made to Schoonover over the phone and during the aggravated DUI arrest. Davis argued that what West said was not a “concrete” threat and was open-ended as Schoonover would have had to engage for West to take any action.