ELKINS – A second Upshur County man allegedly involved in an armed robbery attempt in Elkins Dec. 9 was arrested Wednesday and is being held in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $50,000 cash-only bond.
Damien Austin Moore, 20, of French Creek, was arrested Dec. 18 for robbery, conspiracy and use or presentation of a firearm during the commission of a felony, all felonies, according to the complaint filed in the Randolph County Magistrate Clerk’s Office by investigating officer Cpl. C.G. Boatwright with the Elkins Police Department.
According to a previous story, Moore and 21-year-old Hunter Aragon of Buckhannon allegedly attempted to rob an apartment on Davis Avenue at approximately 10:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9. The incident resulted in one person, the victim and apartment resident, Kelvin Akerley, being stabbed and Moore being shot in the lower jaw.
Aragon and Moore were apprehended by police behind the apartment, but due to the severity of Moore’s injuries – police reported Moore was “completely missing his lower jaw” – he was immediately transported by Randolph County EMS for treatment.
Aragon told police he’d heard “someone had stuff that could make him some money,” which he needed for Christmas, so he asked Moore for help, the file says.
When Aragon and Moore entered Akerley’s apartment, an altercation ensued and a sawed-off shotgun being held by Aragon went off and hit Moore in the lower jaw, the file says.
When police interviewed Akerley, he told them two masked men had entered his residence, beat him and told him, “they were going to [expletive] kill him,” Boatwright wrote in the report.
Akerley suffered two stab wounds during the struggle.
Aragon, who was taken into custody Dec. 9, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Thursday, Dec. 19, in Randolph County Magistrate Court. Aragon has been charged with one count of first-degree robbery, one count of malicious wounding, one count of wanton endangerment with a firearm, one count of presentation of a firearm during the commission of a felony and one count of conspiracy to commit a felony, all felonies, according to the file.
Randolph County Magistrate Benjamin Shepler found probable cause on all counts, and Aragon continues to be held on a $150,000 cash-only bond. The case will be bound over for possible presentation to a Randolph County Grand Jury. Read the original story here.
