BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County man who allegedly escaped from home confinement and fled from officers was arrested for a second time this month Thursday.
Bobby J. Cobb, 52, of Buckhannon, is facing a slew of charges after allegedly sending threatening text messages to his soon-to-be ex-wife and then escaping from home confinement.
Cobb is facing two misdemeanor counts of sending threatening and harassing text messages; two misdemeanor counts of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm; three misdemeanor counts of possessing a controlled substance without a prescription; and one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine. Cobb is also facing eight counts of escape from custody, a misdemeanor, in Upshur County. In addition, he is facing a charge of fleeing with reckless indifference to the safety of others in Webster County, and another charge of fleeing from an officer filed in Pocahontas County, according to the West Virginia Division of Corrections website.
According to two criminal complaints filed in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office, Cobb was initially arrested by Upshur County Sheriff’s Deputy T.R. Collins on March 14 for allegedly sending threatening and harassing text messages to his “soon-to-be ex-wife.” Cobb allegedly sent “multiple” messages to the victim threatening to kill her, her children and other relatives, despite the victim repeatedly asking him to stop. Cobb allegedly sent the messages Saturday, March 11 and March 13-14, and at one point allegedly purchased new telephone numbers from the app, Phoner, to send the messages.
The drug-related charges stem from March 16 incident in which officers with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at his Radabaugh Ridge residence, where they allegedly discovered firearms, methamphetamine and pills that had allegedly been obtained without a prescription.
At some point after that, Sgt. R.S. Rolenson filed another criminal complaint against Cobb for eight counts of escape from custody after Cobb allegedly left his approved residence without permission, removed his GPS monitoring bracelet for a medical procedure at United Hospital Center and then failed to put his GPS monitoring bracelet back on. When Cobb informed police he had returned home, law enforcement officers went to his residence to check on his whereabouts but could not locate him, and he did not answer his cell phone.
His home confinement monitoring bracelet was allegedly found in a vehicle in the driveway.
According to other news reports, Cobb allegedly led officers on a chase through Webster and Pocahontas counties before being arrested.
As of Friday evening, Cobb remained incarcerated in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $270,000 cash-only bail.
