All schools in Upshur County will close at 1 p.m. today. All B-UHS sporting events today are canceled.

Woman arrested for allegedly threatening to burn an Upshur County magistrate’s house down

Sandy

BUCKHANNON – An Upshur County woman has been charged with a felony after allegedly threatening Upshur County Magistrate Alan Suder.

Katrina N.  Sandy, 31, of French Creek, was charged with making terroristic threats, a felony, after allegedly being arrested on a separate misdemeanor charge.

According to the criminal complaint in the Upshur County Magistrate Clerk’s Office filed by investigating officer Sgt. Theron Caynor with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office, on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023, at 9:50 a.m. Magistrate Alan Suder was attempting to arraign Sandy via video arraignment. Sandy had been arrested by another law enforcement officer on a warrant for petit larceny, a misdemeanor, obtained by Sgt. Mark Stewart with the Buckhannon Police Department.

According to the report, Sandy became belligerent during the arraignment process, and Suder was unable to complete the arraignment. The file says Suder could hear Sandy mention his name but was unable to understand exactly what she said. However, a correctional officer at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on the other end of the video with Sandy, advised law enforcement that Sandy allegedly began making threats directed toward Suder. She allegedly said that when she got out of jail she planned to “burn his house down and everyone will be dead,” the file states.

Sandy also allegedly made a statement that Upshur Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Mike Coffman “cannot arrest her” and that “he will be punished,” the report says. These threats were relayed back to the court and the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office for further investigation, and Caynor received statements from Suder and the correctional officer.

Upshur County Magistrate Mark Davis set bail at $25,000 cash only.

The penalty for a conviction of making terroristic threats is confinement in the state penitentiary for not less than one year nor more than three years; a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $25,000; or both.

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