SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. — It may take several days to sort out everything that occurred in a crime spree which stretched from Summersville to Craigsville Sunday evening.
State Police Major Jim Mitchell said at this point there are multiple crime scenes and multiple police agencies who are involved in the various incidents.
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“It’s still an active investigation, so more information will be released in the next couple of days, but right now, I’m guessing three to four different scenes perhaps,” said Mitchell. “We have two other law enforcement agencies involved and we had several state police from an adjacent counties who came to help.”
Jailed is Dustin Dale Young, 24, of Nicholas County. He’s facing charges of attempted murder, DUI causing death, burglary, two counts of grand larceny, assault during the commission of a felony, and fleeing with reckless disregard. He’s lodged in the Central Regional Jail in Flatwoods.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Nicholas County Magistrate Court, Young was involved in an accident around 6:30 p.m. Sunday and was entrapped in the vehicle on state Route 55. State Police were dispatched to the scene, but before they arrived Young got out of his wrecked vehicle and stole a pickup truck from a Good Samaritan who had stopped to assist.
Troopers soon received another call of a wreck involving the stolen vehicle at 19 Carpenter Road in Craigsville. According to troopers, Young entered the home at 19 Carpenter Road and attacked the resident there, Katherine Greathouse, with a claw hammer. According to the criminal complaint, her injuries were severe and she is hospitalized in critical condition.
State Police indicated in the criminal complaint the attack on Greathouse was pre-meditated because she had provided him with “bad dope.”
Before troopers arrived at the Greathouse residence, Young fled the scene in the stolen pickup truck again on Route 41 headed toward Summersville.
The criminal complaint indicated on the way he collided head-on with a vehicle. The driver of the other vehicle, Brody Allan Hanna, was killed in the crash. MetroNews has learned Hanna was a member of the Nettie Volunteer Fire Department and was en-route to respond to one of the accidents in his personal vehicle.
After the crash, police said Young managed to steal a Summersville police cruiser and fled the scene again headed on Route 41 back toward Craigsville. Troopers got behind him and report he was all over the road and narrowly missed several head-on collisions . Troopers said his driving was very erratic and indicated he was severely impaired. The chase finally ended with a final crash on Route 55 at Timber Oaks Drive. Police deployed spike strips.
Troopers pulled Young from the wrecked vehicle and placed him in restraints. The criminal complaint indicated his speech was slurred and his eyes were glassy. Young soon began to lose consciousness and was administered Narcan to reverse the effect of apparent opioids in his system.
He remains jailed in lieu of $225,000 bail. He’s scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Thursday on the multiple charges.