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

Woman arrested for trying to escape from custody

Arrest
Amy Donella Yoakum

ROCK CAVE — A woman faces up to five years in jail after being arrested for felony escape from custody this week.

Deputy Tyler Gordon with the Upshur County Sheriff’s Department allegedly found Amy Donella Yoakum, 28, of Buckhannon, hiding in the back room of a residence on the Canaan Road in Rock Cave on Thursday.

According to the criminal complaint in the magistrate clerk’s office, Gordon first learned of Yoakum’s whereabouts from a bail bondsman.

“The bondsman advised there was an active bail piece and felony capias in the magistrate court of Lewis County,” Gordon writes in the complaint.

The bondsman and deputy traveled to the residence on the Canaan Road and spoke with Tredon Perrine, “who initially lied to this officer about the whereabouts of the defendant, Amy Yoakum,” according to the complaint.

After Perrine told Gordon that Yoakum was in the residence, the deputy attempted “to command the defendant out of the rear of the trailer” and then went into the back bedroom, accompanied by Perrine.

“Upon search, this officer located the defendant hiding in a closet in the back bedroom,” Gordon writes in the complaint. “This officer restrained the defendant with an arm bar and gripped the hands of the defendant in order to safely handcuff her.

“Upon the bondsman assisting handcuffing, the defendant did attempt to escape from the grasp and custody of this officer as handcuffs were being placed on.”

Bond was set at $5,000 cash or surety.

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