SELBYVILLE – A Selbyville man was arrested Sunday for allegedly leading police on a chase in southern Upshur County the prior weekend.
James Woodson, 31, was arrested Sunday, June 14, for fleeing from officer-no vehicle, a misdemeanor; driving while license revoked for DUI, first offense, a misdemeanor; and fleeing from officer in a vehicle with reckless disregard for public safety, a felony, all of which were related to incidents that reportedly occurred Saturday, June 6, 2020.
According to criminal complaints in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Tyler Gordon with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department on Saturday, June 6, 2020, Gordon and Deputy Dewaine Linger were traveling south on Selbyville Road when they passed a truck with no MVI sticker and no license plate.
While it was trying to turn around, they noticed the truck allegedly pick up speed. According to the report, as they caught up to the vehicle, it passed a side-by-side and took a right onto Alexander Road and then a left onto French Reeder Road. Eventually, the vehicle traveled out Big Run Road, traveling at “unreasonable speeds” and allegedly running a stop sign while merging onto Alton Road, Gordon wrote in the report.
The vehicle went left onto Lower Grand Camp Road, then made another left back onto Alton Road, still traveling at a high rate of speed. The vehicle traveled onto Hale Smith Road, Waterloo Road and allegedly ran another stop at Natural Bridge Road before continuing straight on Alexander Road, heading south at high rates of speed, crossing the center of the road multiple times and nearly losing control, the file says.
According to the report, the vehicle went right onto Holly Grove Road and then back onto Selbyville before turning right onto Get Out Road and cutting off onto a rough gas well road, spinning rocks onto Gordon’s vehicle. Gordon had to slow down for the water breaks in the gas well road. The vehicle then pulled away from Gordon until it was out of sight.
According to the report, Gordon caught back up to the vehicle, which got stuck in a dip of the gas well road. Gordon and Linger saw the individual, later identified as Woodson, running over the bank into the brush. Gordon and Linger lost sight of the individual after running into the brush. Gordon called for a K-9 unit, which picked up a scent trail, but police were still unable to find Woodson that day.
One of Woodson’s relatives reportedly told sheriff’s deputies that Woodson went to her house the previous night in the vehicle involved in the incident and had recently left in it while she was mowing the grass. Woodson’s driver’s license was revoked for DUI effective April 11, 2019, the file says.
Bail was set at $50,000.
If convicted on the fleeing from officer-no vehicle charge, Woodson faces a fine ranging from $50 to $500, confinement in jail up to one year or both. On the first-offense driving while license revoked for DUI charge, he could face a fine of $100 to $500. Finally, the penalty for a conviction of fleeing in a vehicle with reckless disregard is imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not less than one nor more than five years and a fine between $1,000 and $2,000.
