Cross Lanes, W.Va. — The Kanawha County Sheriffs Office is investigating an armed robbery and kidnapping from early Sunday morning in Cross Lanes.
Witnesses told Kanawha County deputy M.W. Oakley, who was on the scene, that Joey Eads, 38, of St. Albans robbed one victim then kidnapped a different victim in the Westchester Village Apartments parking lot.
Authorities said they were called to the apartment complex around 1:45 a.m.
Kanawha County Chief Deputy Joe Crawford said they know of at least four people that are involved in the incident, but a lot is still unknown.
“It’s still unclear of how they all met there or what they met there for,” Crawford said. “That’s part of the puzzle we’re still wanting to put together.”
Witnesses said Eads arrived to the parking lot in a gold Kia sedan where the victims and Eads’ girlfriend were hanging out.
Eads approached a vehicle that the three were seated in with a handgun and ordered two men out of the car. Once the first man exited the vehicle, Eads robbed him of his personal belongings. Eads then forced the second man into his Gold Kia at gunpoint. They both left the scene shortly after.
At around 3:45, Charleston Police notified Oakley that they located Eads. He was still in possession of the belongings he had stolen. He was arrested on one felony count of first degree robbery. A kidnapping charge could be handed to Eads as well, following the investigation.
Crawford said the case is still active and thinks with more cooperation from witnesses, they can better piece this incident together.
“There’s a lot of moving parts to this. Some are cooperating, some are not,” Crawford said.
Crawford also indicated there could be more to the story and they aren’t ruling out others being involved.
“I look at it as a puzzle,” Crawford said. “We want to put all the pieces together so we can have a clear picture of what happened.”
Eads is being held at the South Central Regional jail on a $40,000 bond. There were no significant injuries reported.