A Westover man is in custody after allegedly stealing a Jeep Wrangler from outside a North High Street fraternity house in Morgantown.
University Police Officer Roy Harper spoke with the Jeep’s owner who reported parking the vehicle on North Spruce Street, directly behind the frat house on Sunday, May 28, the criminal complaint said. Harper also discovered one of the keys to the vehicle had been left outside the house.
Surveillance footage showed the vehicle being driven away from the area at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. Officer Harper then reported it to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) as stolen.
At around noon Monday, UPD was advised by Morgantown Police to be on the lookout for a gray Jeep believed to be involved in a robbery on Willey Street. The registration plate on the suspected vehicle came back reported stolen by UPD the previous day.
According to the complaint, a grid search of the area around North High and Willey streets was conducted by UPD officers and the vehicle was located parked in front of a Naomi Street residence. An individual in the area told police that moments before they had seen a white male in a light blue shirt pull up driving the vehicle with two other male passengers, then go into a nearby apartment.
During the investigation, Harper determined that the male in the light blue shirt, identified as William Jacob Amos, 26, of Westover, was the driver of the Jeep and had possession of the stolen vehicle since its theft.
Harper also discovered Amos had allegedly been bragging about “having some dude’s Jeep.”
Amos is charged with grand larceny of a vehicle valued at around $28,000 and is currently being held on $10,000 bond at North Central Regional Jail.
It is unclear whether Amos is thought to be involved in the Willey Street robbery being investigated by MPD. No additional charges had been filed against him at the time of this report.
