BUCKHANNON – A Buckhannon man remained in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail Wednesday on a charge of child neglect after city officers arrested him for allegedly driving under the influence of a controlled substance with a small child in the car.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office, 28-year-old Daniel Travis Dunlavy was charged with three offenses – child neglect, a felony; first-offense driving revoked for DUI, a misdemeanor; and driving under the influence with a minor in the vehicle, a misdemeanor – following an incident that reportedly transpired Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018.
Investigating officer Patrolman Angel McCauley with the Buckhannon Police Department wrote in the complaint that she and Cpl. Marshall O’Connor had heard a be-on-the-lookout advisory from the E911 Communication Center. The BOLO advised law enforcement to be on the lookout for a gold Pontiac sedan being driven by Dunlavy, whose license was said to have been revoked for DUI.
The BOLO also noted there was a small child in the car.
McCauley wrote that while waiting on U.S. Route 33, she and O’Connor spotted the vehicle driving westbound on Route 33 and followed it onto South Locust Street, eventually initiating a traffic stop on Franklin Street.
When McCauley asked the driver, later identified as Dunlavy, for his license, he informed her he didn’t have one. She was later able to confirm Dunlavy’s license had been revoked July 2, 2015.
McCauley observed a small child in the back seat of the vehicle “partially buckled in a front-facing five-point child restraint care seat,” the report states.
McCauley subsequently located two empty plastic bags and aluminum foil with burn marks under the child’s seat.
“During a tow inventory of the vehicle, I found two empty baggies and aluminum foil with burn marks,” she wrote in the complaint. “The aluminum foil was found under the child’s seat.”
Dunlavy allegedly admitted to McCauley that he’d used crystal methamphetamine the night before. When McCauley and O’Connor brought Dunlavy to the police department, he allegedly displayed signs of impairment on several sobriety tests administered there.
Magistrate Mike Coffman set bond at $45,000.
The penalty for a conviction of child neglect is confinement in a state correctional facility for one to five years and/or a fine ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.
In other, non-related crime news, John Edgell, 58, of Buckhannon, was arrested for domestic battery and remained in the TVRJ Wednesday following an incident that allegedly occurred on Main Street on New Year’s Eve.
According to the criminal complaint filed by investigating officer Lt. Doug Loudin with the BPD, Loudin and O’Connor responded to an active domestic on Main Street on Monday, Dec. 31, 2018. Upon arrival, the officers found a female victim bleeding from her nose and noted a cut on the left side of her nose.
“She also had two black eyes,” Loudin wrote in the report. “When asked what had happened, [the victim] stated [Edgell] had punched her after a verbal altercation.”
According to Loudin, Edgell was walking “back toward” the victim at the time officers arrived on scene. The officers arrested Edgell, and Upshur EMS transported the victim to the hospital for medical treatment.
Magistrate Mike Coffman set bond at $10,000 when he arraigned Edgell Wednesday. The penalty for a conviction of domestic battery is confinement in jail for up to one year and/or a fine of up to $500.
