Kidnapping

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A man accused of kidnapping a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina was arrested Friday near Martinsburg, W.Va. when police stopped his vehicle on I-81 and found the man and the girl inside, West Virginia State Police said in a press release. Michael Lynn Fry, 33, of 459 Beagle Road in Myerstown, Pa., was taken to the West Virginia State Police Martinsburg Detachment, where he was processed for his North Carolina warrant and transported to Eastern Regional Jail, police said.

A Martinsburg man has been charged with kidnapping after a Friday afternoon incident in which police said he refused to let his estranged girlfriend out of his car, drove recklessly and spoke of wanting police to shoot him, West Virginia State Police said in a news release. Gary Woodrow Poole, 32, of 311 Tenacious Heights in Martinsburg, was charged with kidnapping, driving on a suspended license and domestic assault, Trooper T.D. Gillmore said in the release. Gilmore got the report of the kidnapping Friday about 2:30 p.m. when Charles Town, W.Va.

A Waynesboro, Pa., businessman has been charged with stripping another man down to his underwear and assaulting him Wednesday in the back of a store on West Main Street, the Waynesboro Police Department said. Phillip Crawford, 39, of Waynesboro, was charged with aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and kidnapping, according to a police department news release. Police said they responded at 12:55 p.m. Wednesday to a disturbance at Crawford's business, Just Because, at 42 W. Main St. When officers arrived, Crawford told them that a man who was high on drugs attempted to steal from the store and ran out wearing only his underwear, the release said.

GRANTSVILLE, Md. (AP) -- Authorities have arrested a man accused of kidnapping, beating and choking a 6-year-old girl after he had been at large for more than a week. The Combined County Criminal Investigation unit arrested 44-year-old Stephen Westfall Tuesday about 5:45 p.m. behind a church in Grantsville. Police say Westfall traveled the Allegheny Highlands Trail to Pittsburgh, then returned to Grantsville. He is charged with kidnapping of a child younger than 16, attempted first-degree murder and other offenses.

INWOOD, W.Va. -- Crisis negotiators helped end a two-hour standoff during which a man wouldn't let his girlfriend leave their home Thursday, police said. The Berkeley County Sheriff's Department said in a news release that Charles Kipps III, 34, was with his girlfriend, Melanie Merson, at 60 Hidden Acres in Inwood, where they live, when police arrived at about 3:20 p.m. Deputies found that Kipps was intoxicated and wouldn't let Merson leave, police said. The sheriff's department's Special Response Team and crisis negotiators from Martinsburg Police and West Virginia State Police responded.

A Bunker Hill, W.Va., man faces three felony charges, including kidnapping, following three crimes committed within a three-block radius in Martinsburg early Tuesday, Martinsburg Police said in a news release. Matthew D. Barton, 28, of 34 Marwin Ave., Bunker Hill, was charged with attempted robbery, kidnapping and nighttime burglary, police said. He was being held at Eastern Regional Jail in Martinsburg. At 1:05 a.m., police were called to the 600 block of Winchester Avenue, where a woman said an unknown male assailant had placed a knife against her throat, leaving a small cut, the release said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- An 18-year-old woman was held for several hours Tuesday inside a house at 621 Virginia Ave. where sex acts were forced on her, the Martinsburg Police Department said in a news release. Russell Coates, 51, who lived at the Virginia Avenue address, was arrested on charges of kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault, the release said. Police found Coates at his home but he would not answer the door, the release said. Forced entry was used to get inside the house, police said.

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) - A Hagerstown man who kidnapped his teen-aged girlfriend and held her hostage during a chase and standoff with police was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison. David M. Norment, 38, was also sentenced by U.S. District Marvin J. Garbis to five years supervised release, said U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Beth Gesner. Norment faced a maximum penalty of life in prison. Norment had pleaded guilty in September to kidnapping and firearm charges. He was arrested north of Martinsburg, W.Va.

Robbery, kidnapping charges filed By ANDREW SCHOTZ / Staff Writer, Martinsburg MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - City police charged a Martinsburg man on Thursday with one count of armed robbery and three counts of kidnapping in connection with the armed robbery of a fast-food restaurant this spring. continued Police charged Charles Lesane Jr., 33, of 214 Shenandoah Village, Apt. 3, with taking $1,500 from the restaurant at gunpoint on March 20. Police also alleged that he and three accomplices forced three employees into a freezer.

HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. - A Hedgesville man was charged Wednesday with kidnapping his former girlfriend, holding a gun to her head and assaulting her, according to West Virginia State Police. cont. from front page Police allege that after being refused service in Ritter's Club on Williamsport Pike at around 2 a.m., John W. Shirley Jr., 49, waited outside for former girlfriend Anna Shaffer, who worked there, and followed her. When Shaffer, 45, arrived at her home at 114 Ashley Court in Hedgesville, police allege he placed a gun to her head as she got out of her 1985 Plymouth station wagon and forced her back into the car. Shaffer alleged that he asked her how she felt about dying and told her he didn't have a problem killing her, according to state police.

Never underestimate the power of a mother's love. After nearly two years of trying to find her missing son who was allegedly kidnapped by his father while on a vacation in Eqypt, Kalliopi “Kalli” Atteya took matters into her own hands. The Fayetteville, Pa., woman executed a daring rescue of her son, Khalil Mohamed “Niko” Atteya, at the school in Egypt where his father was taking him, according to Kalliopi Atteya's sister Olga Panagos-Kriska. For several months, she disguised herself in a hijab, a headscarf worn by Muslim women in Egypt, Panagos-Kriska said.

A Williamsport man who entered an Alford plea in the 2012 kidnapping of his ex-girlfriend outside The Improved Order of Red Men Club was sentenced Monday in Washington County Circuit Court to 11 years in state prison. Jeremy Shane Keadle, 31, formerly of 247 E. Potomac St. in Williamsport, entered the plea in December in exchange for other charges, including carjacking, robbery, theft, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, false imprisonment and stalking, being dismissed. Under an Alford plea, a defendant is not admitting guilt, but is acknowledging that the state has sufficient evidence to gain a conviction.

A Falling Waters, W.Va., man pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he sexually assaulted a woman in August 2012 and then kidnapped another woman in a violent string of events that ended when he was shot by police. Raymond Sidney Wallace II, 23, was arraigned by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes on four sexual assault-related offenses, and single counts of kidnapping, attempted arson and assault on a government representative. Wilkes set bonds totaling $900,000 for the pending felony charges, which are contained in a grand jury indictment that was decided last week in Berkeley County Circuit Court.

A Falling Waters, W.Va., man accused of sexually assaulting a woman in August 2012 and then holding a knife to another woman's neck in a confrontation with police that ended in gunfire was indicted Tuesday on multiple charges by a Berkeley County grand jury. Raymond Sidney Wallace II, 23, was indicted on four sexual assault-related offenses, and single counts of kidnapping, attempted arson and assault on a government representative, according to indictment documents released by Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely's office.

A Williamsport man charged with kidnapping his former girlfriend from The Improved Order of Red Men Club in Williamsport last April entered an Alford plea to the charge Monday in Washington County Circuit Court. Jeremy S. Keadle, 30, formerly of 247 E. Potomac St. in Williamsport, had asked for a jury trial when he appeared in court Monday morning, but after a jury was selected, he returned from a brief recess to say he wanted to enter a plea. Keadle repeatedly answered, “Yes, sir,” as Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. asked a number of questions to confirm whether Keadle was comfortable entering the plea.

A Hagerstown man wanted in the Nov. 15 robbery of the TekFlash computer repair store turned himself in to police and was being held on $125,000 bond Thursday after a bond hearing in Washington County District Court. Lamont Cortez Hardman, 41, of 321 A N. Locust St., is charged with armed robbery, robbery, first- and second-degree assault, kidnapping, false imprisonment and theft under $10,000 in the holdup at the business at 61 1/2 E. Franklin St., according to court records. Hagerstown Police went to TekFlash shortly before noon and interviewed the alleged victim, who said he was working when a man came in and asked him for $125 up front to sell two laptop computers, according to the application for statement of charges.

A man accused of fatally shooting three people in Quincy Township, Pa., and fleeing the state with his daughter in July pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the criminal charges filed in his case. Kevin M. Cleeves, 35, appeared before Franklin County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas Judge Shawn Meyers for mandatory arraignment. Cleeves said little as his public defender indicated the defendant would plead not guilty on all counts. Cleeves is charged with three counts of criminal homicide, kidnapping of a minor, unlawful restraint of a minor, two counts of illegal possession of a firearm, interference with custody and endangering the welfare of a child.

The trial of a Williamsport man accused of kidnapping his former girlfriend was postponed Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court because the victim was unavailable, his attorney said. Assistant Public Defender Carl Creeden said the woman was out of town to testify in a federal court proceeding unrelated to the case of Jeremy S. Keadle. Keadle, 30, of 247 E. Potomac St., has been charged with kidnapping, carjacking, robbery, reckless endangerment, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, theft of less than $1,000, false imprisonment and stalking, and two counts of second-degree assault, according to the statement of charges.

A Washington County Circuit judge has scheduled a competency hearing for a man who was charged with kidnapping his former girlfriend April 1 in the parking lot of The Improved Order of Red Men club in Williamsport. Defense attorney Carl Creeden requested during a Thursday hearing that Jeremy S. Keadle, 30, of 247 E. Potomac St. in Williamsport, be granted a competency hearing to determine whether he is fit to stand trial. Creeden told Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. that most of his clients seem to be willing to talk about their defense, but Keadle appeared on several occasions to be unresponsive.

A Washington County District Court judge on Tuesday more than doubled the bail amount for a man accused of kidnapping a former girlfriend Sunday night in the parking lot of the Improved Order of Red Men club in Williamsport. Judge Mark D. Thomas increased Jeremy Shane Keadle's bond from $350,000 to $750,000 during a hearing that was held via closed-circuit television between the courthouse and the Washington County Detention Center. Before Thomas raised the bond, Keadle asked to have the amount reduced.