Man arrested for allegedly fleeing from officers at speeds of up to 85 mph on the Alexander Road

Katie Kuba
September 1, 2023

BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly fleeing from police at speeds of up to 85 miles per hour on the Alexander Road.

Corey J. Wells, 28, of Buckhannon, was arrested Aug. 30 for fleeing in a vehicle with reckless indifference to the safety of others, a felony.

According to the criminal complaint filed in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office by Upshur County Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Gordon, on Aug. 30, while on patrol, Gordon observed a silver-and-white Ford F-150 traveling south on Route 20 in French Creek with an expired registration sticker. Gordon initiated a traffic stop as the vehicle turned onto Waterloo Road, but instead of stopping, the driver of the vehicle, later identified as Wells, allegedly fled at speeds greater than 60 miles per hour on a winding, one-lane country road.

Gordon noted that as Wells continued to flee, he allegedly drove on the opposing side of the roadway in blind turns, failed to heed numerous stop signs and “went airborne coming off of the Waterloo Road onto the Alexander Road,” according to the police report. Wells also allegedly weaved back and forth between lanes at a speed of 85 miles per hour or greater.

Gordon eventually lost sight of the vehicle but later found it abandoned on Canaan Road; he subsequently located Wells about a half-mile down Canaan Road. Wells allegedly admitted to fleeing from Gordon, the file states.

“The passenger of the vehicle was also located and stated that he asked the defendant numerous times to not run, but the defendant refused,” Gordon wrote in the report.

In addition, Wells had an outstanding warrant from Aug. 7, 2023, for allegedly fleeing from an officer in a vehicle on the Abbott Road, according to a second criminal complaint filed by Upshur County Sheriff’s Deputy Cpl. W.T. Chidester.

Bail was set at $40,000 cash or surety. The penalty for a conviction of fleeing with reckless indifference to the safety of others is a fine between $1,000 and $2,000 and imprisonment for one to five years in the state penitentiary.