BUCKHANNON – A Buckhannon man was arrested recently after allegedly stealing a vehicle from High School Avenue in January.
Bryce Guseman, 22, of Buckhannon was arrested for grand larceny and two charges of fleeing from an officer.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office, on Jan. 3, 2021, an orange 2017 Toyota Tacoma belonging to Theron Smallridge was taken from High School Avenue. The vehicle was parked outside a garage that was used for the Smallridge business.
An employee later heard a person talking about a stolen truck and recognized it as the one belonging to his boss, according to the file. Hunter Smallridge, Theron’s son, contacted the sheriff’s office to make a report.
Investigating officer Sgt. Theron Caynor with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office went to the garage to speak with Smallridge.
“The employee brought Christian Jarrell to the garage,” the file reads. “Mr. Jarrell stated that he had brought the defendant, Bryce Guseman, to a house nearby and he walked off and came back driving the truck and left the area.”
Later that night, Guseman contacted Jarrell and asked him to pick him up outside the Hampton Mine property, according to the complaint. When Jarrell arrived, Guseman was allegedly there with the truck in the woods, close to the gate. Jarrell showed Caynor where the vehicle was, and it was identified by Hunter Smallridge, the file states.
“I also spoke to a female juvenile who gave a statement also that the defendant took the vehicle from High School Avenue,” Caynor wrote in the complaint.
Bail was set by Upshur County Magistrate Mark Davis at $11,000 cash or surety.
The potential penalty for grand larceny 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 not more than one year and a fine of not more than $2,500. The potential penalty for fleeing from an officer is a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $500, confinement in jail not more than one year, or both.
