CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Dispatchers said a motorcyclist was injured after crashing along Interstate 64/77 in Charleston.

Stalnaker

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A West Virginia State Police trooper has been recognized for his quick action during a shootout last year that claimed the life of a U.S. Marshal.

The American Association of State Troopers named Sgt. Gregory L. Stalnaker its 2012 "Trooper of the Year" this week.

Association spokeswoman Angie Ishee pointed to Stalnaker's heroism on Feb. 16, 2011, when he went with federal marshals to arrest Charles Edward Smith, 50, of Elkins, on drug and gun charges.

Morgan Marie Mullins, 27.

The FBI on Thursday charged Morgan Marie Mullins, 27, of West Hamlin, with armed robbery after she signed a statement admitting she robbed a City National Bank branch, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Charleston.

Additionally, authorities said, Mullins admitted to breaking into the Teays Valley Nursing Rehab facility near Hurricane on May 2 and taking prescription pills at gunpoint.

According to the criminal complaint, Mullins walked into the bank in West Hamlin at about 12:40 p.m. wearing a black mask, dark jeans and a gray hooded sweatshirt. She pointed a black handgun and ordered employees and customers to get on the floor and took about $3,000 from the teller before fleeing on foot.

Robert "Bob" Kenneth Snow, 55, of 103 Arlington Ave., was last seen by relatives at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday leaving the 7-11 on Washington Street West, where he works as a district manager, said Wendy Reynolds, his daughter.

He was then seen again at about 5:30 p.m. at the 7-11 on Bigley Avenue, when he checked on employees and bought some lottery tickets, Reynolds said.

At about 6:10 p.m. Wednesday, a co-worker called Snow's mother and said he failed to show up to a required district managers meeting.

Damon McDowell sued Peck, Town Council and others earlier this month, claiming he was racially harassed and falsely accused of wrongdoing throughout his employment.

McDowell says the harassment included hiding paperwork so he missed court appearances and telling jokes with racial epithets in his presence.

In a response filed with U.S. District Court in Beckley, the town denied every accusation Wednesday and said it's immune from liability because it acted in good faith.

West Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous said several students were involved in an incident with a fourth-grade teacher at Spencer Elementary School on Thursday. Baylous said Thursday afternoon that troopers at the State Police detachment in Spencer were aware of the situation, but that no one had yet asked for an investigation into the incident.

"We're aware of it and are prepared to respond if and when it becomes necessary," Baylous said.

Of the fourth-grade teachers listed on the county schools website, Ann Carper was the only one listed as a patient at CAMC Women and Children's Hospital in Charleston today. A hospital spokeswoman said Carper had been treated and released.

HARTS, W.Va. -- A Lincoln County man faces felony charges after he allegedly shot his neighbor with a shotgun in a dispute about loud music.

Fulton Toney allegedly walked to Brian Lee Maynard's residence on W.Va. 10 in the Compass Point area of Harts and asked him to turn his radio down because it was "too loud and he was getting ready to go to bed," according to a criminal complaint filed in Lincoln County Magistrate Court.

Maynard, 31, allegedly pulled a shotgun out of his vehicle and shot at Toney's feet. Toney suffered wounds to his stomach, leg and arm, according to the complaint.

Charleston Police responded to the Kick Back Lounge on Central Avenue around 2:30 a.m. after reports that a man had been shot multiple times outside the bar, said Sgt. Bobby Eggleton.

Housein Bakir Keaton, 29, of Charleston was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition in the Trauma Step Down Unit Thursday evening.

Police have not arrested anyone and do not have a suspect, but have spoken to numerous witnesses about the alleged shooting, Eggleton said.

The Associated Press

This flyer was distributed by the New York Police Department of Stanley Patz's son Etan who vanished in New York on May 25, 1979. New York City police commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday that a person who's in custody has implicated himself in the disappearance and death of Etan Patz.

NEW YORK -- A law enforcement official says a man in custody who has implicated himself in the death of 6-year-old Etan Patz was picked up late Wednesday in Camden, N.J., and has been tied to the case in the past.

The man was being questioned Thursday by the Manhattan District Attorney's office, which is heading the probe by the FBI and police.

A person familiar with the investigation says the man's emergence as a person of interest was not related to the search of a Manhattan basement in April.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A couple faces abuse and neglect charges stemming from the death of a 3-year-old boy in Berkeley County.

Media outlets report that a grand jury indicted 20-year-old James N. Mauldin and 23-year-old Jasmine K. Dawkins on Wednesday.

Each is charged with death of a child by parent, guardian and/or custodian by child abuse, gross child neglect and providing false information. Mauldin also is charged with child abuse causing serious bodily and malicious assault.

WHEELING, W.Va. -- An Ohio man who triggered a nationwide search last fall has pleaded guilty to money laundering, drug conspiracy and contempt of court charges in West Virginia.

Forty-three-year-old David Kidd of Martins Ferry could get more than 40 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine when sentenced in U.S. District Court in Wheeling.

In his plea appearance Thursday, he agreed to forfeit nearly $70,000, a firearm, and vehicles and computers.

BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. -- A Beech Fork State Park maintenance worker is dead following a mowing accident.

State Police Sgt. Michael Baylous tells The Herald-Dispatch that another worker found the victim's body under a riding mower in the park's lake.

Baylous says the 25-year-old man was mowing grass Tuesday when the mower apparently turned over. The accident occurred at the Four Coves campground.

At about 5 p.m. Tuesday, firefighters were called to extinguish a small blaze at 1565 Pansy Drive.

The house has been vacant for years and is on the city's demolition list, said Wesley Smith, an arson investigator with the Charleston Fire Department.

"It didn't burn very long and there wasn't very much damage to the house," Smith said. "The house is full of trash, full of combustibles. People have been dumping in there for years."

The Weirton Daily Times says Weirton attorney Don Humberson is charged with battery and possession of a controlled substance.

Weirton Police Chief Bruce Marshall says Humberson went to Steubenville, Ohio, last May and purchased 10 bags of heroin for himself and two other men.

One of those men -- Scott Roach -- later overdosed. He died in a hospital a few weeks later.

DUNBAR, W.Va. --A Dunbar man is in jail after allegedly firing a shotgun during an otherwise routine traffic stop.

West Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous said Trooper K.L. Adkins of the South Charleston detachment pulled over Breanna Hall, 20, at about 5 p.m. Tuesday on W.Va. 25 in Dunbar for an expired inspection sticker and improper vehicle registration.

While filling out citations for those and other infractions, a passenger in the vehicle, Malcolm Jamar Hodges, 22, of Dunbar, allegedly fired a pistol-gripped 12 gauge shotgun that was in the floorboard of the car, Baylous said.

Media outlets say 34-year-old Jennifer Bauer Bennett was arrested Tuesday on a charge of using a minor to produce obscene matter. She's free on $10,000 bond until a preliminary hearing June 7.

She's accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student from August 2009 until February 2012. A State Police affidavit says the boy was 15 when it began.

Bennett resigned in February when the allegations surfaced. A phone listing in her name is disconnected, and it's unclear whether she has an attorney.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County sheriff's deputies are looking for a man who fled early Wednesday, leaving behind a stolen ATV and what appeared to be materials to make methamphetamine.

Lt. Bryan Robbins of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department said Deputy J.L. Miller was patrolling Falcon Drive at about 12:45 a.m. when he spotted a man and a woman sitting on a parked ATV. When he got closer, the man got up, dropped a backpack and ran away, Robbins said.

Robbins said the backpack contained items used for making meth, and the ATV was reported stolen in Jackson County last month.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Cabin Creek man is in critical condition after being hit by a coal truck while riding an ATV.

Timothy Butcher, 52, of Crawford Bottom, was heading south on Cabin Creek Road on an ATV at about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday when he collided with a northbound coal truck driven by Burton Fisher of Charleston, according to Lt. Bryan Robbins of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

Robbins said Fisher was making a left-hand turn and apparently didn't see Butcher. Butcher, who was thrown from the ATV, was riding without a helmet and had the ATV's headlights turned off, Robbins said.

ELKINS, W.Va. -- A Buckhannon man who admitted to defrauding insurance companies by staging vehicle accidents and filing fake claims will spend 18 months in prison.

U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey sentenced 42-year-old Christopher John Thrain earlier this week on one count of mail fraud in Elkins.

Thrain must also serve three years on probation

A man with a handgun walked into City National Bank in West Hamlin at about 1 p.m. and demanded money, said West Virginia State Police dispatchers.

He then fled in an unknown direction before police arrived.

No one was injured and police are unsure if the man took money, Lincoln County 911 dispatchers said.

The children were malnourished and didn't have access to water, police said.

A Red Roof Inn employee called authorities at about 3 a.m. after Lisa Lewis reported that her sister, Aurelia Joanna Lewis, 25, left four small children unattended in room 209, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

Charleston Police Officer M.Z. Blackledge met Lisa Lewis and they went together to the room. A small boy opened the door and said his mother was gone.

U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey ruled that Lena Lunsford must begin serving her sentence June 28. She'll also serve one year of probation and must repay the U.S. Department of Agriculture $522.82.

Lunsford, 29, pleaded guilty in January to selling $114 worth of credit on her food-stamp card for $50 cash. She'd been indicted on multiple counts in October, accused of swapping the benefits for cash five times in two months.

Her daughter Aliayah disappeared from their rented Lewis County home Sept. 24, 2011. Lena Lunsford told police the girl was in bed at 6:30 a.m. but was missing when she went to check on her a few hours later.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A federal judge has overruled a jury's verdict that found  a Wood County sheriff deputy did not use excessive force when he beat a man who was reportedly "running his mouth" while detained in a processing room.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin cited "unequivocal" video evidence of Deputy Jim R. Asbury's alleged assault on Brian Sawyer. The federal judge ruled in favor of Sawyer and ordered a new trial to determine damages.

In his order filed Friday afternoon, Goodwin recalled the Los Angeles riots in 1991, sparked after a jury acquitted Los Angeles police officers in the beating of Rodney King despite video footage of the incident.

Karissa Ramsey, 19, of St. Albans, was traveling toward Winfield at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, a Putnam County sheriff's deputy said. Someone who witnessed the crash said the teenager was killed instantly, according to the deputy.

An investigating officer said he believed Ramsey might have survived if she had been wearing a seatbelt.

Ramsey has worked at the Sonic restaurant in St. Albans since its opening three years ago, said Angie Gardener, a Sonic employee who had worked with Ramsey for more than a year.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Former Mason County sheriff David Anthony was sentenced to 18 months in jail and ordered to pay a $500 fine on Monday.

Anthony, 42, pleaded guilty last month to misdemeanor charges of brandishing and firing a weapon near a dwelling. He also pleaded no contest to misdemeanor fraudulent schemes and embezzlement. He faced up to three years in prison on all counts.

As part of the plea agreement, Anthony withdrew his bid for a second term in the Democratic primary earlier this month, agreed not to run for future political office and surrendered his law enforcement certification.

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. -- The FBI and other law enforcement officers will honor a Monongalia County sheriff's deputy killed in the line of duty earlier this year.

Sgt. Michael Todd May of Morgantown will be remembered this afternoon at an annual memorial ceremony for fallen West Virginia officers at the Criminal Justice Information Services complex in Clarksburg.

May died Feb. 18 after his stopped patrol car was struck by a hit-and-run suspect on Interstate 79 in western Pennsylvania.

THURMOND, W.Va. -- National Park Service crews have recovered the body of a man whose boat capsized on the New River.

Media outlets report that a commercial fishing guide saw the body of 41-year-old Bradley Alexander Sr. around noon Sunday near the Thurmond Bridge.

Alexander's son also was in the boat when it capsized last Wednesday. He wasn't injured. He told authorities that his father wasn't wearing a life jacket.

GLENWOOD, W.Va. -- A Mason County woman discovered a body on the banks of the Ohio River on Sunday.

A West Virginia State Police spokeswoman said the body of a man was found by a resident in Glenwood about 7:15 p.m. The body has been sent to the State Medical Examiner's office for possible identification.

State Police troopers in Mason County are investigating.

SISSONVILLE, W.Va. -- Police said a Sissonville man was hospitalized this morning after being stabbed by his son during an argument.

Larry Shamblin, 65, got into an altercation with his son, Cable Shamblin, 20, both of Derricks Creek, around 6:30 a.m., said Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

Cable Shamblin allegedly stabbed his father in the chest. Larry Shamblin then fired a handgun several times while his son ran away, Crosier said. No one was hit by gunfire.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Speakers from the FBI, Secret Service and U.S. attorney's office will be among the presenters at a digital evidence conference at Marshall University.

The conference being held Monday through Friday at Marshall's Forensic Science Center will provide training in digital forensics and evidence recovery, electronic discovery and information security.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin is set to open the conference with a presentation on the use of digital evidence in prosecutions.

Brian Andrew Webb, 19, of Arnett, and Tonya Renee Beckner, 22, of Fairdale, attempted to rob a Fairdale home belonging to Eddie Wimmer at about 6 a.m. Monday, according to a news release from the Raleigh County Sheriff's Department.

Wimmer caught Webb inside the home and shot him once in the chest, the news release said.

On Thursday, police arrested Beckner and charged her with first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit a felony. She remained in Southern Regional Jail on Friday in lieu of $75,000 bail.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Four people face drug charges after Kanawha County authorities say they discovered two different methamphetamine labs.

One of those labs forced officials to temporarily close a Cross Lanes motel.

Lt. Bryan Robbins of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department said Deputy C.D. Lyons spotted a silver Ford F-150 pickup truck weaving on W.Va. 21 near Pocatalico on Thursday. When he pulled the truck over, Lyons smelled an odor consistent with making meth, Robbins said.

Hancock County Sheriff Mike White says the victim was using a torch on a 55-gallon drum when the accident occurred Thursday in New Cumberland.

The victim's name wasn't immediately released.

Media outlets report the cause of the explosion is under investigation.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- One lane of Interstate 77 remains closed near Paint Creek following an early morning truck wreck.

Kanawha County emergency officials said a truck carrying paper bags overturned in the northbound lanes on Interstate 77 at the Paint Creek exit at about 1:15 a.m., spilling its load all over both sides of the interstate. All northbound and southbound lanes were closed for about an hour.

Both northbound lanes reopened within a few hours, and one southbound lane reopened about 6 a.m.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The state Public Service Commission is warning state residents about national scammers promising to pay for utility bills.

According to the PSC, scammers in different parts of the country have gone door-to-door, posted fliers and used social media and text messages to claim that President Obama is providing credits or is paying for utility bills.

The scammers get victims' personal information and Social Security numbers, the commission said. The victims are given a bank routing number to pay their bills, but the number is fraudulent and payments are never applied to the customer's bills.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- South Charleston police have identified a man whose body was found in the Kanawha River on Wednesday as a Charleston resident who went missing last week.

South Charleston Police Detective Andrew Gordon identified the man as Tarone Taylor, 31, of Charleston. Taylor's family reported him missing last week

Gordon said police do not suspect foul play in Taylor's death.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Police say a Huntington husband and wife are accused of breaking into a residence while their three young children were left alone at home nine blocks away.

Dustin Ray Ogden and Amanda Grace Morris-Ogden each are charged with two counts of burglary and three counts of child neglect, all felonies.

A criminal complaint says the two were attempting to steal copper pipes Tuesday. They told officers their children ages 5, 2, and 9 months were back at their home unattended. Media outlets report the children are now in the care of a relative.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Police say a Huntington husband and wife are accused of breaking into a residence while their three young children were left alone at home nine blocks away.

Dustin Ray Ogden and Amanda Grace Morris-Ogden each are charged with two counts of burglary and three counts of child neglect, all felonies.

A criminal complaint says the two were attempting to steal copper pipes Tuesday. They told officers their children ages 5, 2, and 9 months were back at their home unattended. Media outlets report the children are now in the care of a relative.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Sissonville man was arrested late Tuesday after allegedly threatening his wife and others with a knife and a gun.

FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- More than 50 people face charges stemming from an undercover investigation of drug and gun violations in Fairmont.

Media outlets report that 29 people have been arrested as of Wednesday afternoon. A total of 53 arrest warrants have been issued.

Fairmont Police Chief Kelley Moran says all 53 suspects are from Fairmont. The investigation didn't target any particular group.

State Police troopers from the Rainelle detachment arrested Tommy R. Keeney III, 23; Dustin M. Ellison, 24; Lonnie D. Fields, 32; and Ragen B. Adkins, 32, and charged them with their parts in breaking into and setting fire to the Little General Store in Charmco on April 4, according to State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous.

Keeney, Ellison and Fields were charged with second-degree arson, grand larceny, breaking and entering and conspiracy, Baylous said. Adkins was charged with second-degree arson, grand larceny and conspiracy.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- The number of arson fires in Huntington continues to grow.

Media outlets report that the latest fires occurred early Tuesday at two houses on opposite sides of the city.

More than 45 arsons have occurred in the city since last November. The earlier fires targeted vacant and abandoned structures. Tuesday's fires occurred at houses that were occupied.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Kentucky woman came to Boone County last week to take care of her grandchildren while her daughter coped with her ailing father.

On Tuesday, both women were found dead inside the daughter's Bloomingrose home. Police arrested the Kentucky woman's son-in-law Wednesday and charged him with two counts of first-degree murder and the sexual assault of an underage female family member.

Timothy Ray Parsons, 36, of Comfort, allegedly slit the throats of his wife, Leigh Anne Kinder-Parsons, 35, and his mother-in-law, Gloria Sue Kinder, 62, of Lexington, Ky., sometime over Monday and Tuesday, according to a criminal complaint filed in Boone County Magistrate Court.

Sgt. Bobby Eggleton said Robert Dwayne Miller, of Charleston, was at the intersection of Main and Russell streets at about 10 p.m. Monday in a Ford SUV when he stopped beside a dark-colored sedan. Eggleton said one man was in the sedan, while another man with a gun came walking around the car and opened fire on Miller.

Miller tried to speed away onto Russell Street, but ended up wrecking the car, Eggleton said. He then ran away on foot until police arrived.

Police are looking for two males, but have few other details.

Media outlets report that 49-year-old Chester Stewart's death is being investigated as a homicide.

The Matheny resident was last seen alive Aug. 6, 2011 in Matheny. Police say a house attendant found his body last Friday in a pool at a vacant house between Matheny and Oceana.

Wyoming County Sheriff Randall Aliff says identification found with the body was Stewart's. The medical examiner has not yet made an official identification.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- All U.S. and West Virginia flags are flying at half-staff in honor of Peace Officers Memorial Day.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued a proclamation lowering the flags today across West Virginia. The gesture is intended to commemorate all federal, state and local law enforcement officers who have fallen in the line of duty.

May 15 was designed in 1962 by presidential proclamation as Peace Officers Memorial Day.

DELBARTON, W.Va. -- Two Mingo County high school students were injured Monday when they collided head-on with a coal truck along the same road where a student wrecked and died earlier this month.

At about 2 p.m. Monday, two Mingo Central Comprehensive High School students driving a pickup truck crossed the centerline along U.S. 52 and collided with a coal truck, said Delbarton volunteer firefighter Clyde Pruitt.

The male driver was trapped and his female passenger was able to get out and call for help, Pruitt said. Both drivers were alert and talking with paramedics and firefighters, he said.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia has opted to not comply with a federal sex offender registration law because of the cost.

The law calls for states to use a three-tier classification system. Offenders in the highest tier must appear at the appropriate agency at least four times a year to verify their information. Depending on their convictions, other offenders are required to appear once or twice a year.

In West Virginia, State Police troopers visit sex offenders unannounced at least once a year to verify their information.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Cabin Creek couple was charged with child negelct over the weekend after allegedly taking drugs instead of taking care of their baby.

Jon Paul Kazee and Cassie Ferrell, both 29, were in the South Central Regional Jail this morning on charges of child neglect, according to Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department. Bond was set at $10,000 each.

Crosier said a relative called deputies just before midnight May 12 because Kazee and Ferrell were allegedly drifting in and out of consciousness while taking drugs. When deputies asked the couple where their 4-month-old baby was, they told deputies the baby was in the crib.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Clendenin man was in jail Monday after allegedly attacking another man with a metal pipe.

David Eugene Elmore, 26, of Laurel Fork Road, was having an argument Sunday with neighbor Randall Woods, 51, when Elmore allegedly hit Woods in the head and upper body with a metal pipe, according to Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

Woods was taken to CAMC General Hospital. Crosier said Elmore was arrested and charged with malicious wounding.