The attorney representing the woman involved in a viral traffic stop with the former Monongah police chief said the officer was allowed to resign rather than be fired for his actions.
Beth Delloma’s attorney, Joe Shaffer, said he got the information from a statement made by an attorney representing the town. A video that has gone viral shows Nathan Lanham becoming angry and pointing his weapon at Delloma before breaking the driver’s side window. Once Delloma got out of her vehicle from the passenger side, Lanham threw her to the ground and handcuffed her.
“The [town] attorney said Mr. Lanham was allowed to resign, and if he had not resigned, he would have been fired,” Shaffer said Wednesday on MetroNews “Talkline.” “However, the only way to stop this type of thing is to fire the individual, make a complaint to the board and try to have his certification pulled.”
Shaffer said he plans to meet with Monongah Mayor John Palmer to find out more on how the decision was reached to allow Lanham to resign. Shaffer said he’ll ask Palmer to fire Lanham and make a full report to state certification officials.
“What this mayor should have done is fire this individual and then make a complaint to the board of certification about everything that went on here and ask for his certification to be pulled,” Shaffer said. “That’s what should be done and that’s what I’m going to ask the mayor to do.”
What happened in Monongah many times snowballs into bigger issues in unsuspecting communities, Shaffer said. By not holding Lanham accountable, he could seek employment in another community.
“Instead, they allowed him to resign, and that’s how police officers like this are passed to smaller departments and allowed to move on instead of interfering with this type of behavior,” Shaffer said.
Shaffer said they will also be seeking monetary damages for Delloma. He said after being threatened, fearing for her life and spending five days in the North Central Regional Jail, there’s no way to restore Delloma but they will be asking for money for what she was put through.
The incident occurred Thursday and she was held in jail until a prosecutor dismissed the charges Monday.
“How much would any of us take to have a gun held to our heads at three different locations along a route of travel by an individual as unhinged as his behavior showed that he was?” Shaffer asked. “I don’t think there’s an amount of money anyone would take.”
Shaffer said state laws are on the books to encourage small towns to consolidate public safety services with nearby municipalities or enter into agreements with larger communities for public safety. He believes personnel issues will not get easier for any department, so smaller communities should band together to provide public safety.
“Part of that statute allows police departments to combine into a metro unit and counties in West Virginia should look toward doing that,” Shaffer said. “There’s no reason to have all these small departments because you can’t hire good people often.”
