Excessive Force

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Martinsburg man whose arrest in January 2007 by the West Virginia State Police was recorded on videotape is claiming his civil rights were violated and that troopers used excessive force to detain him. A 10-page complaint filed Oct. 16 on behalf of Steven S. Witt by attorney Christopher P. Stroech also makes claims of unlawful arrest, assault, battery, false imprisonment and asks for damages, attorneys' fees and a jury...

A man claims in a federal lawsuit that two Martinsburg police officers used excessive force when they arrested him in May during a rental-car dispute. William E. Hale of Martinsburg claims he sustained more than 30 burns on his neck, shoulders and back from being shocked with a Taser by the officers, according to the lawsuit filed Friday by attorney Harry P. Waddell. Hale, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor obstruction charge in July, claims his civil rights were violated and asserts that the police officers' treatment of him constituted "assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress," according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Martinsburg.

Jury acquits former Ranson police officer By DAVE McMILLION / Staff Writer CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - A former Ranson police officer was acquitted Friday of charges he assaulted a Maryland man "for no apparent reason" during a robbery investigation four years ago. After hearing three days of testimony, a six-member jury acquitted Steve Harris of the charges, said Shayna Funkhouser, a clerk in the Jefferson County Circuit Clerk's...

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Local black leaders, state police officials and state lawmakers met here Wednesday to discuss forming a board to investigate complaints of alleged discourtesy and excessive force by the West Virginia State Police. State police already have a mechanism for investigating complaints against troopers, but a new proposal supported by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People would allow citizens to sit in judgment of police actions, officials said.

A Hagerstown city employee has filed a complaint accusing a city police officer of improperly pointing his gun at him during a traffic stop last month. Ray Foltz Sr., Hagerstown's assistant finance director, filed the complaint earlier this week with the police department against Officer Casey Yonkers. Foltz alleges that Yonkers pulled him over at about 6:45 a.m. on March 25, aimed his revolver at him and ordered him out of his car. "I hadn't done anything that would be threatening to anyone," Foltz said in an interview.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Terry Bellomy said he wants to see more community policing at the Shepherdstown Police Department, where officers routinely talk to local business owners about happenings in town, and use bicycle patrols that can allow officers to better survey some areas of town. Bellomy said he will offer town residents the opportunity to inform the police department when homeowners go out of town so the police department can check on the homes periodically to make sure they are secure.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Tom Slater has faced state Delegate Larry Faircloth in the Republican primary twice and has lost twice. "I swore I'd never do it again," Slater said. But Slater, retired after 28 years with the CIA, is back. And Faircloth, who is in his 10th term as the representative for the 53rd District, is again seeking re-election. Faircloth, who has his own real estate company, said if the right candidate came along, he would stop running, but it hasn't happened yet. "Look at who has the experience," he said.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com Shepherdstown, W.Va. - Shepherdstown council members have reviewed the police chief's report regarding an incident that led to allegations of excessive force by a town police officer, and expect to release a response sometime this week, the mayor said Tuesday night. Council members met for nearly two hours in executive session Monday night to go over the report, which totaled about 70 pages, including statements by witnesses, said Police Chief Charles Cole.

A two-year feud that erupted in gunfire left one man wounded in the square at Downsville last fall and another facing a possible five-year prison sentence Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court. William F. Murray Jr. was found guilty of reckless endangerment by a jury of five women and seven men after less than two hours of deliberations. That jury acquitted Murray of first- and second-degree assault charges and a weapons violation. In a rare comment on a jury's decision, Judge Frederick Wright said he understood how the jurors came to their decision.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. ? A Ranson, W.Va., man who was hospitalized from burns he received when police used a combination of pepper spray and a Taser to arrest him last year is seeking $40 million in damages in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court. The complaint, filed Oct. 23 on behalf of Steven C. Scott by attorney Sherman Lambert, names West Virginia State Police and agency leader Col. David L. Lemmon; Berkeley County Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Randy Smith; Ranson Police Department and Chief William Roper; City of Ranson; Berkeley County Commission; and 10 "Does," who Lambert indicated he would name later when their identities are known, as defendants.