KINGWOOD — The mayor of Terra Alta has been charged, again, this time in relation to another incident that allegedly happened in June.
Preston County Prosecutor Melvin C. Snyder III charged Mayor Robert A. DeLauder with assaulting a government employee, a misdemeanor.
DeLauder was arraigned and freed on $500 bond. According to the criminal complaint, on an unspecified date in June, the mayor pulled his vehicle into the parking lot of town hall and blocked Recorder John Trembly’s vehicle.
The mayor then “assaulted John Trembly by physically threatening to commit a violent injury to him,” according to the complaint. Trembly drove across a strip of grass onto W.Va. 7 while DeLauder “was chasing him, shaking his fist at him and yelling expletives at him,” according to the complaint.
In October, DeLauder was indicted on a charge of damaging or destroying telecommunications or cable service. The indictment stemmed from a criminal complaint in August, when Snyder said that on June 3 or 4 DeLauder entered city hall and damaged the Prodigi box inside a closet connected to council chambers.
He allegedly removed the power line and damaged the phone-wiring block, interrupting phone and internet service that night, according to that complaint.
Also in August, Snyder charged DeLauder with falsifying his request for a public defender, saying he failed to list his salary as mayor and listed zero income. That charge was false swearing and perjury.
In June, Snyder charged DeLauder with “alteration, concealment or destruction of public record” for allegedly removing a meeting agenda from the door of town hall and throwing it away.
The charges have not yet been resolved.
TWEET@DminionPostWV
