Monongalia County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Waynesburg, Pa., woman following a single vehicle accident on Point Marion Road early Monday.
Deputies were dispatched shortly before 2 a.m. and found a Jeep driving away from the scene, the criminal complaint said.
On the scene, deputies spoke with a man who was standing next to a vehicle that was crashed in the ditch. He told them that the passenger in the Jeep seen by deputies was the driver of the crashed vehicle. It is unclear if the male was a passenger in the vehicle or someone passing by the accident. Officials with the sheriff’s department were unavailable Tuesday to clarify.
The Jeep eventually returned to the scene and deputies spoke with both occupants and alleged the passenger’s words were “very slurred” and she had “glassy eyes and droopy eyelids.”
Deputy Ethan Mongold stated in the complaint that both occupants of the Jeep initially acted like they did not know anything about the crash. When Mongold told them the man on scene had informed deputies the passenger was driving, the passenger began talking about a friend. When asked what the friend’s name was, she became “irate and argumentative.”
Mongold asked for the passenger’s identification several times and she refused. After several refusals, Mongold informed her she was under arrest. She allegedly resisted when Mongold attempted to handcuff her. He and another deputy had to forcibly put her hands behind her back and in the cuffs.
The passenger was identified as Kirsten Ann Victor, 26, of Waynesburg.
As Victor was being arrested, Mongold reported the driver of the Jeep apologized and said that she was trying to help her get the vehicle out of the ditch.
After Victor was transported to the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department, Mongold stated he read her the implied consent statement and she refused to take a secondary breath test.
The state’s implied consent law is written into your driver’s license application and states, “any person who drives a motor vehicle in this state is considered to have given his or her consent by the operation of the motor vehicle to a preliminary breath analysis and a secondary chemical test of either his or her blood or breath.” Those that don’t comply could lose their right to drive in West Virginia.
During the 15-minute period Victor was being processed, Mongold stated she became combative with him and MCSD transport officers. She allegedly stood up and refused to sit back down before being placed back in the chair. She allegedly stood up again and a struggle ensued.
During the struggle, Victor allegedly made a fist and Mongold attempted to gain control of her wrist, ordering her to unclench her fist or she would be pepper sprayed.
“She then drew her fist back in a punching motion as if to strike me,” Mongold wrote in the complaint. Pepper spray was then administered to gain compliance from Victor. She was transported to the hospital for treatment.
Upon checking her criminal history, deputies discovered she had a March 31 DUI arrest in Pennsylvania and is currently wanted on a non-extradition warrant for failing to appear in court for that charge.
In Monongalia County, Victor is charged with misdemeanor battery on a government employee, second-offense DUI, and two counts obstructing. She was arraigned Monday and bond was set at $35,000. She is currently in custody at North Central Regional Jail.
TWEEt @DominionPostWV
