BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man was arrested recently for allegedly driving a vehicle despite having his operator’s license revoked for DUI.  

William Cole, 35, of Buckhannon, was arrested for a third or subsequent offense driving revoked DUI, a felony.

According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Cpl. Tyler Gordon with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office, on Feb. 7, Gordon observed a male driver pull onto the roadway of Brushy Fork Road from Smith Avenue in Buckhannon before turning into the Brushy Fork Mart.

The male was operating a blue Chevy Blazer that displayed an expired registration from November 2023. The vehicle pulled back onto Brushy Fork Road and then back onto Smith Avenue when Gordon initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle and identified the driver as Cole.

Cole’s driver’s license was revoked for multiple DUI convictions in July of 2022, and the conviction date was listed as effective Oct. 4, 2022, according to the police report. In addition, Cole had two prior convictions of driving while his license was revoked for DUI in Upshur County, dated May 3, 2012, and March 12, 2019.

Bail was set at $15,000 by Upshur County Magistrate Alan Suder.

The potential penalty for a conviction of a third or subsequent offense driving revoked for DUI is confinement in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than three years and, in addition to the mandatory prison sentence, a fine of not less than $3,000 nor more than $5,000.