BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man was arrested Thursday after allegedly stealing more than $6,000 worth of property that belonged to someone else on at least two occasions in the fall of 2023.
Travis M. Starkey, 29, of Buckhannon, was arrested Jan. 4, 2024, for burglary, grand larceny and felony conspiracy, all felonies, in connection to a series of burglaries, one of which allegedly occurred Sept. 24, 2023.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by Upshur County Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Gordon, Gordon responded to a residence on Meandering Trail in Buckhannon in reference to a reported burglary that allegedly occurred the prior evening. The deputy also knew this residence had been reportedly targeted about one week prior, according to the police report.
“I was aware that the above residence had been burglarized the previous week,” Gordon wrote in the file.
During the ensuing investigation, “a large quantity of stolen property” from the two consecutive burglaries was allegedly found in an outbuilding on Upper Sand Run Road located on property that belongs to Starkey and another female individual, according to the report.
The female individual allegedly admitted to deputies that she and Starkey entered the Meandering Trail residence without permission. She also allegedly told police she and Starkey had stolen items that belonged to the victim “at least two times,” the file states.
Later that day, Starkey returned additional stolen property belonging to the victim and allegedly admitted to “helping” remove the items with the above-mentioned female individual “from behind the victim’s residence” on two occasions.
Gordon wrote that the “sheer amount of property stolen” is possible evidence that it would have been impossible for either Starkey or the female individual to have acted alone.
The victim told police she believed a third burglary occurred at some point but was unsure of the time frame. After being provided with a detailed list of items, Gordon estimated that Starkey and the female individual accompanying him allegedly stole about $4,500 worth of property during the first alleged burglary and approximately $1,940 worth of property during the second incident.
“It should be noted that the victim and her juvenile’s emotional state was negatively affected due to being burglarized multiple times,” he concluded.
Bail was set at $45,000 cash or surety.
The penalty for a conviction of burglary is imprisonment in a state penitentiary for one to 15 years, while the potential penalty for grand larceny is imprisonment in a state penitentiary for one to 10 years or, in the discretion of the court, confinement in jail for up to one year and fined up to $2,500. Additionally, a conviction of felony conspiracy carries a penalty of one to five years, a fine of up to $10,000, or both at the discretion of the court.
