BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man is being held on a $90,000 cash-only bail after he was arrested last week for allegedly stealing several utility and all-terrain vehicles between August and October of 2020.
Jeffrey Andrew Saltis, 27, of Buckhannon, who has been incarcerated in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail since Nov. 9, was arrested on a eight felony charges, including three counts of grand larceny, two counts of receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, one count of attempt to commit grand larceny, one count of breaking-and-entering and one count of conspiracy to commit a felony.
He was also charged with one misdemeanor – entering without breaking.
The most recent charge is related to a complaint of a stolen UTV on Oct. 27, when Saltis and another man allegedly returned to retrieve the UTV, which was reportedly hidden on a mountainside.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Senior Trooper P.J. Robinette with the Buckhannon detachment of the West Virginia State Police, Robinette and another officer responded to a grand larceny complaint on Upper Pecks Run Road. The victim told police his UTV was stolen between 4:14 to 4:18 a.m. that morning and provided an invoice showing the UTV’s value to be $11,689.90; however, he also had a windshield, roof, winch and a light bar that raised the value to over $13,000, the file says.
Police saw surveillance footage, which showed two males – one of whom was later identified as Saltis – approaching the garage from behind, entering the garage through an unsecured door and lifting the garage door a short time later. One person was seen pushing the UTV out of the garage, while one sat on the driver’s seat. The second individual then got in the passenger seat and they drove away.
Saltis was ultimately detained by the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office while returning to “retrieve” the stolen UTV, which the two individuals had reportedly hidden on a mountainside off No. 5 Mine Hollow Road, the file says.
While being detained Oct. 27, Saltis allegedly admitted to law enforcement that he had also stolen a white Polaris Sportsman 500 on Oct. 10 from someone else’s garage on the Clarksburg Road, according to a criminal complaint in the magistrate’s office filed by Deputy Joseph Barcus with the Upshur County Sheriff’s office. The ATV was valued at $5,000.
Finally, according to another criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Cpl. Tyler Gordon with sheriff’s office, when Saltis was arrested Oct. 27, he also allegedly confessed to stealing a John Deer gator valued at $29,000 on Aug. 31, 2020 and then selling it to a Walkersville resident for just $500.
The possible penalty for a conviction of grand larceny is confinement in the state penitentiary for not less than one year and not more than 10 years, or in the discretion of the court, confinement in jail for up to one year and a fine of not more than $2,500.
Meanwhile, the potential penalty for a conviction of receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle is confinement in the penitentiary for not less than one year nor more than 10 years or confinement for up to one year in jail and a fine not to exceed $2,500.
The potential penalty for a conviction of attempt to commit grand larceny is confinement for not less than one nor more than three years or, alternatively, confinement in jail for not less than six months nor more than 12 months and a fine of up to $500.
The potential penalty for a conviction of breaking and entering is confinement in the state penitentiary for not less than one nor more than 10 years, and the possible penalty for conspiracy to commit a felony is confinement in the penitentiary for not less than one, nor more than five years or a fine of up to $10,000 or both.
Finally, the penalty for a conviction entering without breaking is confinement in the state penitentiary not less than one nor more than 10 years.
