MORGANTOWN — A Westover Police Department property receipt reveals the recently recovered cell phone involved in the William Cox lawsuit against the City of Westover was found in the police department’s evidence room and was recovered by Westover Officer Justice Carver.
The receipt was mailed anonymously to The Dominion Post and was confirmed to be a legitimate document by Westover Police Chief Joe Adams. Adams said some dates on the document appeared to be inaccurate, but confirmed the cell phone was found in the evidence room.
12WBOY reported that an investigation by West Virginia State Police included multiple statements in which department employees said the phone was never logged as evidence. Adams had no further comment when asked why the cell phone was found in the evidence room.
According to the WVSP report, these employee statements included Christine Riley, former secretary of the Westover Police Department, who is responsible for submitting items into the evidence room, but stated she never saw the cell phone. Officer Zachary Fecsko also stated no evidence was logged in reference to the Cox arrest, despite the original report reflecting Cox had been recording the incident with his phone. Another officer stated they saw the phone on top of the Sergeant’s filing cabinet broken in half.
According to the property receipt, the recovered cell phone has been passed from Westover Police Chief Joe Adams to Craig Corkrean.
Corkrean said the cell phone is in the possession of his company, Digital Forensic Investigations LLC., a company which is separate from his position as chief with the Granville Police Department. He was unable to confirm the company’s role in the investigation.
The cell phone is part of a lawsuit that alleges Westover officers Aaron Dalton and Carver used excessive force on plaintiff William Cox for recording them, destroyed his cell phone that recorded the attack, and falsely arrested him.
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