BUCKHANNON – Two people were arrested Wednesday after allegedly being found with a stolen truck at a camp on Juniper Road.
Miranda Kuhens, 25, no address listed, and William Baker Jr., no address listed, were arrested Nov. 9, 2022, on three felony charges each: burglary, conspiracy to commit a felony and possession of stolen property.
According to two criminal complaints filed by Deputy Tanner Collins with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office, the Upshur County Communication Center gave Collins information regarding a red F-250 truck that had allegedly been stolen and also about “people arguing at a camp on Juniper Lane.”
Collins noted that the Comm Center informed him that no one was permitted to be inside the camp. When the deputy arrived on scene, he immediately spotted a red F-250 truck matching the description from the Comm Center. He then noticed the door of the camp/cabin was cracked open and saw a woman inside the cabin come through another door.
Collins also provided the Comm Center with the truck’s VIN number and other identifying information, and the Comm Center confirmed the truck on the last was, in fact, stolen, the police report says.
Collins ordered the woman, later identified as Kuhens, and everyone else inside the cabin to come out. Once outside Kuhens and Baker said a third party gave them permission to stay at the camp, according to the file.
After being read their Miranda rights, Kuhens and Baker allegedly told Collins that two other individuals – another male and another female – “picked them up and gave them a ride to Upshur County.”
Baker allegedly told police he gave the male individual $20 and “got him high for the ride,” the file states.
Baker also told Collins he overheard the man and woman who had picked them up fighting about the truck. Both Kuhens and Baker denied knowing the truck had been stolen.
“[Baker] stated [the other male individual] said he could not take the truck back to Fairmont because people have seen them driving it,” Collins wrote in the report. “William and Miranda kept telling me they did not know the truck was stolen while we were at the cabin.”
Upshur County Magistrate Alan Suder set bail for both Kuhens and Baker at $75,000 cash only.
The penalty for a conviction of burglary is imprisonment in the state penitentiary for one to 15 years. The penalty for conspiracy to commit a felony is confinement for one to 10 years in the state penitentiary, a fine of up to $10,000 or both. Finally, the penalty for possession of stolen goods is imprisonment for one to 10 years, or, at the discretion of the court, confinement in jail for up to one year and a fine of up to $2,500.
