Kidnapping

W.Va. woman pleads guilty in kidnap case CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - A Kearneysville woman charged in the kidnapping and attempted murder of a Maryland man who was thrown into the Potomac River and left for dead last summer was sentenced Monday in Jefferson County Circuit Court to 20 years in state prison, a prosecutor said. Tammy Reel, 32, of Kearneysville, had pleaded guilty to kidnapping in the Aug. 2, 1996, incident in which she lured Donald Milligan into a Days Inn motel room where Mark Johnson of Shenandoah Junction tried to kill him, according to testimony at Johnson's trial in June.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The Berkeley County Sheriff's Department is investigating a reported kidnapping outside the 7-Eleven convenience store early Tuesday in Baker Heights, W.Va., east of Martinsburg. A witness told police that he heard a female scream outside the store and then saw her being punched by a black male who then dragged her to a silver, four-door sedan, which then sped away, according to a news release by the Sheriff's Department. Sheriff's deputy Thomas Carroll responded to investigate the incident at 3:17 a.m. Witness Terry Kilmer told police that the female had been inside the store just before the incident happened.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The car that a woman and man allegedly used to kidnap its owner was found in Florida, Sgt. Burnett of the West Virginia State Police said Thursday. No other information, including whether those who were charged in the kidnapping were found with the car, could be confirmed. A magistrate issued warrants last month charging Brandon D. Green, 32, and Amber Cummerit, age unknown, both of Wrangler Avenue in Martinsburg, with kidnapping and grand larceny. Green also was charged with unlawful/malicious wounding.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - During the third day of a Berkeley County grand jury session Thursday, two people were indicted on kidnapping charges, one man was indicted in connection with a bank robbery and another man was indicted on charges that he threatened a prosecutor and bailiff. All of the cases are unrelated. The kidnapping indictments stemmed from an incident on Sept. 20, 2004, at the National Fruit Camp residences in Inwood, W.Va. David Duckett, 29, of 607 E. Moler Ave., Martinsburg; and Johnny Toussaint, 22, of 219 Pennsylvania Ave., Martinsburg; were each indicted on four counts of kidnapping, four counts of wanton endangerment with a firearm, two counts of brandishing a firearm, one count of robbery, one count of malicious wounding, one count of conspiracy and one count of nighttime breaking and entering.

A Hagerstown man is being held without bond on charges he carjacked, kidnapped and raped his ex-girlfriend earlier this month. Barry Cleveland Beggarly Jr., 26, appeared before a Washington County District Court judge Wednesday on charges including second-degree assault, rape, sex offenses, false imprisonment, carjacking, kidnapping and violation of an order to stay away from the victim. Hagerstown City Police were alerted to the girlfriend's disappearance on May 1 by her current boyfriend who said he called the victim on her cellular telephone shortly after she left for work that day and a man answered, police reports said.

gregs@herald-mail.com Two Baltimore teenagers are going to prison after entering guilty pleas Wednesday in connection with a Washington County kidnapping case last March. Dallas Evans, 15, and Michael James Allen, 17, were charged with forcing a counselor from the Oak Hill House youth home in Clear Spring into the trunk of the counselor's car and driving the car to Baltimore on March 24. The teenagers were charged as adults. They were scheduled to stand trial Wednesday but their attorneys reached a plea agreement with the prosecutor before a trial began.

HAGERSTOWN - Charges can proceed against a man accused of kidnapping his brother with a black powder handgun, despite weaknesses in both brothers' stories, a Washington County District Court judge ruled Tuesday. Robert L. Brooks Jr., 44, of 15595 Jacobs Church Road in Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., will face charges of kidnapping and first-degree assault in Washington County Circuit Court, according to court records. The defendant's brother, John Patrick Brooks, told police Robert Brooks Jr. threatened to shoot him Dec. 28 over money owed to the family business, then kidnapped him to help collect on an unpaid debt, according to charging documents.

HAGERSTOWN ? Charges may go forward against a man accused of kidnapping his brother with a black powder handgun, despite weaknesses in both brothers' stories, a Washington County District Court judge ruled Tuesday. Robert L. Brooks Jr., 44, of 15595 Jacobs Church Road in Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., will face charges of kidnapping and first-degree assault in Washington County Circuit Court, according to court records. The defendant's brother, John Patrick Brooks, told police Robert Brooks Jr. threatened to shoot him Dec. 28 over money owed to the family business, then kidnapped him to help collect on an unpaid debt, according to charging documents.

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