BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man who wrecked his truck into a tree Sunday night on Kanawha Hill was arrested for driving under the influence.
Joseph I. Moore, 27, of Buckhannon, was arrested for second-offense driving under the influence, a misdemeanor, following a single-vehicle wreck that occurred just before 8 p.m. Sunday.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Sgt. Tom Posey with the Buckhannon Police Department, Moore was driving a 2019 black Chevy truck, headed south on Route 20/South Kanawha Street when he reportedly lost control of the vehicle.
“[Moore] drove off the right side of the roadway, then came back across both lanes of traffic onto the sidewalk,” Posey wrote in the report. The file says Moore subsequently struck a fence and “drove up the bank into a tree.”
When Posey talked with Moore, he noticed Moore’s pupils were allegedly constricted and his speech was slow and lethargic. Posey then conducted a standardized field sobriety test, and results indicated Moore was under the influence, according to the report. Posey later allegedly found tinfoil and a heroin stamp inside the vehicle.
On Monday, Buckhannon Police Chief Matt Gregory confirmed Moore was arrested for DUI with a narcotic.
Following the Sunday evening wreck, traffic in both northbound and southbound lanes of Route 20 was diverted as first responders worked to clean up the roadway. In addition to the BPD, the Buckhannon detachment of the West Virginia State Police, Upshur County Sheriff’s Office and Buckhannon Fire Department responded to the scene.
The criminal complaint states Moore has a prior driving under the influence charge with a conviction date of Sept. 22, 2016.
Upshur County Magistrate Alan Suder set bail at $7,500 cash or surety. As of Monday evening, Moore remained incarcerated in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail, according to the West Virginia Jail Authority website.
The penalty for a conviction of second-offense DUI is imprisonment in jail for not less than six months nor more than one year and a fine ranging between $1,000 and $3,000.
