| By Bob Weaver
Col. D. L. Lemmon of the WV State Police has declined to confirm the status of Sgt. C. J. Ellyson, former commander of the Grantsville detachment.
The agency has declined to confirm if Sgt. Ellyson has been suspended, although sources have indicated it is likely that he is being removed from the force.
Sgt. Ellyson was removed from the Grantsville detachment following an internal investigation of local troopers, including the conducting of lie detector tests.
The troopers were investigated for alleged wrongdoing, with sources indicating part of the problem was related to missing guns, evidence or cash.
Col. Lemmon, unresponsive to a Freedom of Information request by the Hur Herald, said the "matter is under investigation and not subject to the Freedom of Information Act."
The Herald's FOIA requested information regarding problems being experienced within the local detachment.
The agency declined to comment whether or not Sgt. Ellyson is being investigated regarding possible criminal offenses.
Sgt. Ellyson, according to court documents, "threw-away" key evidence being used in the prosecution of John Manis Richards, a Grantsville man who was indicted for manufacturing meth.
The officer said the evidence was lost when he cleaned a garage at the barracks, indicating former detachment commander Sgt. Darrin Campbell did not properly secure the alleged meth-making materials, nor was a proper chain-of-custody procedure followed.
Sgt. Ellyson replaced Sgt. Campbell last summer after Campbell fell from a ladder at the barracks, injuring himself. Campbell has reportedly retired from the organization, related to his injuries.
Sgt. Ellyson was involved in at least two situations that made the Charleston newspapers during his tenure as Grantsville's detachment commander.
One involved a confrontation with a man in downtown Charleston in what was described as a road rage incident directed at Ellyson.
Another involved Sgt. Ellyson accidentally shooting himself in the leg at his residence in Kanawha. The gun was Ellyson's personal weapon that he had just purchased and was putting together, according to Sgt. Dale Fluharty, the detachment commander.
Sgt. Ellyson's problems are part of a long series of problems demonstrated by the State Police in Calhoun County, indicating professional misconduct and failure to perform.
The Charleston based agency has been unresponsive to citizen complaints over several years, although they have frequently conducted internal investigations, supporting their officer's behavior.
While complaints have been made against specific troopers, there has been an effort to bring stronger supervision, directed toward restoring confidence to the agency.
With a growing list of incidents and problems, the agency has not been responsive.
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