BUCKHANNON – A Lewis County man was arrested for allegedly hitting his girlfriend in the face and grabbing the steering wheel of a moving vehicle with a child in the back seat.
Edward Lane, 36, of Walkersville, West Virginia, was arrested for domestic battery, a misdemeanor; domestic assault, a misdemeanor; and child neglect resulting in risk of injury, a felony.
According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by Trooper First Class P.J. Robinette with the Buckhannon detachment of the West Virginia State Police on Saturday, April 22, just before 8 p.m., the E911 Upshur County Communication Center dispatched Robinette and three other state police troopers to a residence on Radabaugh Ridge in reference to a domestic disturbance.
Upon arrival, Robinette spoke with Lane, who was standing in the residence’s driveway. Lane said he and his “on-again-off-again” girlfriend — the victim and mother of his child — were involved in an altercation over her driving. Lane accused the victim of driving too fast in the driveway of her residence on Radabaugh Ridge.
Lane told police that on three separate occasions, he allegedly grabbed the gearshift, placed the car in neutral and turned the ignition off. He also allegedly told the state troopers that their three-year-old son was also in the vehicle’s back seat at the time.
On the third attempt, Lane said he allegedly “pushed her up against the seat and got the keys out and exited the vehicle,” Robinette wrote in the criminal complaint. Lane said once he removed the keys from the ignition, his girlfriend reportedly began “wailing on [him], I mean beating the snot out [of him].”
“I’m surprised I don’t have a busted lip,” Lane said, according to the police report. Lane then allegedly stated, “I didn’t hit her or nothing. If I hit her, you’d know, but I restrained her a couple times right in front of the kid.”
Lane stated he removed the three-year-old child, who allegedly began “beating” on him, from the vehicle, walked into residence and called 911. Robinette asked Lane if he had suffered any injuries, to which he said he had not, and none were observed.
Robinette then contacted the victim, Lane’s girlfriend, who stated Lane allegedly “slammed her car up into neutral” and attempted to rip the keys out while she was driving on Radabaugh Ridge, the file states. She also said Lane allegedly grabbed the steering wheel, jerked it “against the hill,” and hit her in the face twice.
Lane’s girlfriend said she tried to pull Lane off her, at which point Lane exited the vehicle and began acting like he was going to throw the keys over the hill before “jerking” their son around, the report says.
The victim stated that Lane then threw her keys to her, and she went back to the residence. She stated Lane was already on the phone with 911 saying that she had beaten him up.
“And I was like, ‘I did hit you, you’re right, I hit you back,'” Robinette quoted the victim in the report. “You hit me first. You put your hands on me. I told you to keep off of me. I told you to stop doing that to my car. You’re going to wreck me and my son, and [Lane] doesn’t even care.”
While speaking with Lane’s girlfriend, she said her mouth was sore, and Robinette observed redness under her right eye, which she stated was caused by being struck by Lane.
Bail was set at $50,000 cash only by Upshur County Magistrate Alan Suder for child neglect resulting in risk of injury. Upshur County Magistrate Mark Davis set bail at $5,000 cash or surety for the domestic battery and assault charges.
The penalty for a conviction of child neglect resulting in risk of injury is a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $3,000 dollars, confinement in the state penitentiary for not less than one nor more than five years, or both.
