BUCKHANNON – A Buckhannon man was arrested Thursday on battery charges after he allegedly attacked the director of Upshur County EMS in September.
Tommy Ables, 24, of Buckhannon, was arrested for two counts of battery on emergency service personnel, a misdemeanor, after an incident that took place Sept. 20 during which he allegedly punched Upshur County EMS Director Gloria Burr and another EMT.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Deputy Tyler Gordon with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department, on Sept. 20, Gordon responded to a call for service to assist Upshur County EMS in regard to an overdose 911 call at 603 Valley Green Drive in Buckhannon.
Upon arrival, Gordon assisted EMS in the medical treatment of a 23-year-old male, identified as Ables, by his girlfriend. Upon transporting Ables to the Upshur County Regional Airport to be life-flighted to Ruby Memorial Hospital by HealthNet, Ables allegedly became aggressive and combative.
Director of Upshur County EMS Gloria Burr and her partner, Matthew Crawford, reported Ables “grabbed Burr by the stomach, pinching her, punched her in the stomach, bit her left leg and grabbed her near the neck and threw her across the back of the ambulance,” Gordon wrote in the report.
Ables also allegedly punched Crawford in the arm and swung several times. Gordon photographed the marks on Burr’s stomach as a result of the alleged battery just after 1:30 p.m. that day when they were still visible.
Magistrate Kay Hurst set bail at a combined total of $7,500, and Ables was not listed on the W.Va. Regional Jail Authority’s website as of Saturday.
The penalty for a conviction of battery on emergency services personnel is confinement in jail for not less than one month nor more than 12 months, a fine of not more than $500 or both on each count.
