CHARLESTON — Authorities investigating an alleged police beating of a 16-year-old in Martinsburg denied requests for more information.
State Police and the Governor’s Office denied requests made by the ACLU of West Virginia under the Freedom of Information Act.
State Police and the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department denied similar requests made by West Virginia MetroNews.
Several investigations are under way over the Nov. 19 altercation that was captured on a cruiser’s dashcam video.
Two state troopers and one sheriff’s deputy were suspended without pay pending the investigations of the incident in Berkeley County.
They have been identified as Trooper First Class Derek Walker and Trooper First Class Michael Kennedy, as well as Deputy Austin Ennis.
The allegations were revealed through a statement from Gov. Jim Justice, who alluded to the beating of a 16-year-old white male.
The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia requested a variety of information, including the dashcam video and related correspondence.
“We are committed to getting to the bottom of this incident to determine if any of the teenager’s civil liberties were violated,” stated Loree Stark, the legal director for ACLU-West Virginia.
The Governor’s Office told ACLU-WV that it has no responsive documents.
State Police denied most of ACLU’s requests on the grounds that an investigation remains active. The denial cited a portion of state code providing that exemption.
State Police did respond to a question about what officers were at the scene, naming Walker and Kennedy.
Responding to a MetroNews request for the dashcam video — rather than citing the exemption relating to an ongoing investigation — State Police instead said it is not the investigating agency.
“The West Virginia State Police was not the investigating agency in the criminal matter of the juvenile; therefore, you will need to contact the Berkeley County Prosecutor’s Office.”
The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office also denied a separate request by MetroNews.
The sheriff’s office cited the ongoing nature of the investigation.
An additional memo from the County Council of Berkeley County cited the same exemption:
“It is part of an on-going investigation of those allegations, the premature disclosure of which would compromise the criminal and administrative investigations.
“The video will be released upon the Prosecuting Attorney’s determination that the investigation is complete.”
Early this month, Berkeley County Prosecutor Catie Wilkes Delligatti said her office was close to completing its investigation.
But then the Federal Bureau of Investigation got involved, causing local investigations to hold up on announcing any findings or releasing the dashcam video.
Statements have described the 16-year-old crashing into a parked sheriff’s cruiser, fleeing, losing control and crashing into a utility pole.
What happened next was captured on dashcam video from a sheriff’s cruiser and passed up the chain of command until the incident was described to the governor.
The initial statement by the governor said “dashcam video taken at the scene shows the suspect being beaten by the two troopers.”
“While I proudly support the brave efforts of our law enforcement agencies every day it must be perfectly clear that I will NOT tolerate this kind of behavior in any way, shape, form, or fashion.”
