WV KNIFE AND GUN CLUB - Man Chops Girlfriend With Axe, Mason Residents Charged Over Guns, Bomb And Drugs

(03/18/2013)
TAKING MATTERS IN HIS OWN HANDS - A Huntington man was arrested after State Police said say he allegedly fired shots toward three men outside of his home in Guyandotte.

Police said they found a loaded weapon nearby, and said Nicholas McComas told them he was "tired of drug dealers and was taking matters in his own hands."

Officers said McComas had been drinking.

He was charged with wanton endangerment, discharging a weapon within 500 feet of a dwelling, brandishing a weapon, and obstruction of justice.

MAN USES AXE ON GIRLFRIEND - An Oceana man, 46-year-old Tracy Stewart, has been jailed, accused of attacking his girlfriend with an axe during an argument.

It happened at Shorts Mobile Home Park at about 12:30 a.m. Friday.

Stewart admitted that he hit 50-year-old Lenora Ellis several times in the head with an axe, and once in the arm.

He allegedly told police he acted in self-defense.

Ellis was found unresponsive in the trailer and flown to CAMC where she is listed in critical condition.

Neighbors told media they saw it coming, a lot of drinking and arguing.

Stewart is charged with attempted murder and malicious wounding. He is currently in the Southern Regional Jail on $50,000 bond.

DRUGS, EXPLOSIVES AND GUNS IN MASON CO. - Five people are in police custody Saturday in Mason County, after police said they found drugs, guns and an explosive device during a disturbance call.

Once inside the home, police said they found more drugs and a bomb-like device rigged on the door of the garage, Sheriff Greg Powers said the bomb was used as boobie trap.

A bomb squad was called in to disarm the device.

Police said there was a baby inside the home, who is now with Child Protective Services.

Joshua Smith, Matthew Gibbs, Krista Aeiker, and Michael Mays, all of Ashton, and John Cornell, of Apple Grove, were arrested and each charged with child abuse and possession of a controlled substance with a firearm.

One of the male suspects is also charged with possession of a destructive device.

This isn't the first time deputies have responded to this house.

MARTINSBURG POLICE KILL KNIFE-WIELDING MAN - Five Martinsburg police officers are on paid administrative leave while West Virginia State Police investigate the fatal shooting of a Virginia man who allegedly stabbed an officer.

Media outlets said police shot Wayne Arnold Jones, 50, of Stephens City, Va., after he ignored orders to drop a knife he pulled on the officers.

They had stopped him as he walked on a city street, but the reason was not immediately clear. Jones told the officers he had a weapon but wouldn't say what it was, police said, and he grew angry and refused their subsequent orders. He fled into a doorway, and the officers pursued.

In the scuffle that followed, police said, the officers used stun guns on Jones, and he allegedly stabbed one of the officers in the torso.

Police then shot Jones several times.

The officer's stab wound turned out to be minor, and police said he did not require treatment.

The incident is the third fatal police shooting in Martinsburg in less than two years. Police also shot and killed a woman who allegedly pointed a gun at them in December and a man who allegedly carjacked a woman and her 4-year-old daughter in September 2011.

WOMAN HOLDS-UP STORE - Kanawha County Sheriff's deputies responded to an armed robbery, which took place just before 9:30 p.m. Sunday night.

Metro 911 dispatchers said a woman walked into Ivy's, a video lottery parlor between Dunbar and Cross Lanes, showed a gun and demanded money.

Dispatchers said she got away with about $100.

The suspect is described as a white female with sandy blonde hair, which was pulled back in a pony tail.

LEWIS CO. MEN ARRESTED FOR ROBBERY - Two Lewis County residents have been arrested in connection with a Monongalia County robbery.

David Pascasio and David Goldsmith have been charged with conspiracy to commit a felony and robbery, an incident that happened in May, 2011.

Goldsmith is facing additional charges filed in Lewis County. The Lewis County Sheriff's Department said Goldsmith entered a camper trailer on Bablin Ingo Road and intentionally set it on fire causing a total loss of the property.

CEDAR GROVE HEIST - Cedar Grove police officers are looking for a man who walked into a GoMart around 2 a.m., pulled out a gun and demanded cigarettes and cash.

The robber got away with three cartons of cigarettes and an undetermined amount of money.