BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man was arrested Wednesday after he was pulled over for a suspected suspended driver’s license and then allegedly found with stolen property belonging to someone in Preston County.
Jonathan L. Grubb, 30, was arrested for two felonies – transferring stolen property and grand larceny – and two misdemeanors, driving suspended seconded offense and no insurance. Three of the charges stem from a July 28, 2021, incident, while the grand larceny charge is related to a separate incident documented in a complaint filed by the state police in June.
According to the first criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Deputy Joseph Barcus with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office, on July 28, at approximately 2:30 p.m., Sgt. Rodney Rolenson told Chief Deputy Mike Coffman and Barcus that he spotted Grubb driving a white Ford F-250 that was pulling a trailer in the Buckhannon Taco Bell drive-through. Due to recent prior dealings with Grubb, the officers knew his license was suspended for unpaid citations, according to the report.
Soon after, Coffman stopped Grubb on the Old Weston Road for an alleged suspended license and improper registration, and deputies verified that his license had been suspended and that the truck he was driving wasn’t covered by insurance.
In addition, officers also ran the license plate affixed to the black two-axle trailer hooked to his vehicle, and both the trailer and the plate back as stolen out of Preston County. The trailer was valued at approximately $5,000 according to the NCIC entry and report filed by a trooper with the Kingwood detachment of the West Virginia State Police, the file says.
Upon arriving at the station, Grubb said he got the trailer from someone who he reportedly met on the Spruce Fork Road in Upshur County. Grubb said the individual in question wanted to trade trailers because Grubb had a smaller trailer that was hauling a four-wheeler and the deal seemed “odd” to Grubb, but they traded the trailers, the file states. Grubb told the sheriff’s deputies that on July 25, the person came to his residence, and they made the trade.
A second criminal complaint filed in the Magistrate Clerk’s office by investigating officer Cpl. V.J. Pyles with the Buckhannon detachment of the West Virginia State Police accuses Grubb of grand larceny. In the complaint, Pyles alleges that over the course of an several-day investigation from June 24-27, 2021, Grubb allegedly stole a truck axle worth approximately $1,000, a generator worth approximately $3,000 and an engine worth approximately $6,000 from two other individuals.
Bail was set at $20,500 cash or surety by Upshur County Magistrate Mark Davis, and as of Saturday, July 31, Grubb remained incarcerated in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail, according to the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority website.
The penalty for a conviction of receiving or transferring stolen property is confinement in the penitentiary for not less than one, nor more than 10 years, or, in the discretion of the court, confinement in jail for not more than one year and a fine of up to $2,500. Meanwhile, the penalty for a conviction of grand larceny is imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 10 years in the state penitentiary, or, in the discretion of the court, confinement in jail for not more than one year and a fine of up to $2,500.
