The following criminal complaints have been filed in the Tucker County Magistrate office:
John Travis Palmer was charged with one count driving under the influence of alcohol, controlled substances or drugs. On Thursday, Sept. 10, Trooper G.P. Hahn was dispatched to a call for a single vehicle MVC with property danger and entrapment. 911 advised that a truck had struck multiple vehicles and the laundromat on 258 Spruce Street in Thomas. He was advised that the driver of the vehicle was trapped and that the occupants inside the laundromat as well as residents of the apartments above the laundromat were stuck inside. He was notified that there was a strong gas smell and that the caller or callers believed that a gas line had been damaged.
Hahn arrived on scene and observed a white Chevy Silverado had crashed into the front door of the building mentioned above and could see residents looking from their windows. He also observed another pickup truck with heavy rear end damage that appeared to have been plowed into a Subaru. He was advised that the truck and Subaru that were struck had been parked approximately 30 feet up the road and had been pushed down by the striking vehicle. Hahn spoke with fire units on scene who stated that the gas smell was coming from the striking vehicle and that the occupants of the building were not believed to be in danger from any form of gas line leak. Hahn allowed the fire units and other law enforcement from the Tucker County Sheriff’s Office to work on the crash scene while he located the driver of the vehicle.
He located the driver in the rear of an ambulance that was on scene. the driver was identified as John Travis Palmer (accused). He made contact with the driver who was visibly intoxicated. He detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from the accused and noticed that he was very disoriented and was heavily slurring his speech.
He was Mirandized and gave Hahn verbal acknowledgment that he understood what was being read to him. The accused agreed that he had too much to drink and stated that he had made a mistake. Hahn asked the accused what he had to drink to which he stated, “Alcohol”.
After having spoken with the accused, Hahn followed the ambulance to Davis Medical Center in Elkins to serve a search warrant for the blood of the accused so that the blood alcohol content may be determined via the WVSP forensic lab. The warrant was obtained by a Trooper out of the WVSP Elkins Detachment based on facts stated by Hahn and was granted by a Magistrate of Randolph County. While serving the warrant the accused repeatedly told Hahn that he was sorry for what had happened and that he had made a mistake. Hahn obtained the blood of the accused and the accused stayed in the hands of medical professionals as he was not under arrest at that time.
The blood sample was transported to the WVSP crime lab in Charleston for analysis and Hahn received a return from the scene. He is reporting that the lab results show that at the time the sample was taken, his blood alcohol content was 0.217. The legal limit for an adult is 0.08. These results show the accused was well above an aggravated level at the time this incident occurred.
Laurie Kliewer Olson was charged with one count of Domestic Violence. On Monday, Oct. 12, Cpl. B.M. Gidley along with Chief Deputy Sigley responded to a battery that had taken place around 11:30 a.m. Officers arrived on scene and spoke with the victim. She provided officers with a handwritten and signed statement advising that she and the suspect, Laurie Olson, were playing cards and the suspect was getting mad and called the victim a petty bitch. The victim left, went downstairs to do a grocery list. She went back upstairs to finish it and the suspect started saying, “she was a sore loser”. She then brought up the victim’s family conflicts and said that she wasn’t scared to hit her. That is when the suspect hit the victim in the face and the victim protected herself and covered her face. The suspect then grabbed the victim’s hair and said, “Do you want me to keep going?” Once the suspect left, the victim went upstairs and called staff members using another person’s phone. The victim advised she then spoke with staff members and her therapy counselor and was shocked at what happened and then called 911.
The following property transfers have been recorded in the Tucker County Clerk’s office:
The City of Parsons, Parsons Cemetery, Lot No. S.E. Half 118 in Section B, 9×20 feet to Dwight E. Wolford and Carol A. Wolford.
Jeffery C. Helmick, Black Fork District, Lot 62, Blackman Heights Subdivision to Kylei E. Helmick and Deborah D. Hatfield, Life Estate.
Polly Ann Porter, Dry Fork District, Unit 1231, Building 2, Beech Lodge of Beaver Ridge Condo to Steven Dale Powell and Heather Lee Powell, $186,000.