| Man shot in head by troopers may not 'come out of this,' wife says
State Police spokesman provides more detailed explanation of events surrounding shooting
By Ashley B. Craig
Daily Mail staff
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A State Police sergeant has provided details of events leading to the shooting of a Clendenin man by a trooper who was trying to arrest him on outstanding warrants.
The man, Stephen Krein, 19, of Kelly Hill Road, today remained on a ventilator in critical condition at a Charleston hospital.
Megan Krein, his wife, said Tuesday that doctors "don't expect him to come out of this."
The two troopers who were at the scene have the next few days off. They may be placed on administrative leave while the incident is investigated, said Sgt. K.G. McCord. The decision will be made when they return to duty.
Troopers J.J. Price and W.S. Snyder of Kanawha County were following a lead on Krein's whereabouts Monday night when they spotted him in a white Chevrolet Silverado in the parking lot of Huffman's Country Store near the intersection of U.S. 119 and Ambler Ridge Road.
The man had been wanted by troopers since his last encounter with them Nov. 25, when he nearly ran over McCord in Clendenin after officers tried to stop him.
McCord said the troopers on Monday knew the vehicle was one used by Krein and after approaching the truck they identified him as the man they were looking for.
There were multiple warrants for Klein's arrest, including charges stemming from last week's incident.
Troopers had been on the lookout for him the night of Nov. 25 after dispatchers informed them of a maroon Dodge Durango driving recklessly and running a woman off the road in Clendenin.
"That was his mentality: to go out and cause havoc," McCord said.
McCord and Cpl. P. Mooney spotted the SUV and followed it to Kieffer Fork Road in the Clendenin area, where a dead end should have ended the chase. But Krein turned the SUV around and nearly hit McCord in the process.
Krein then backed the SUV at a high rate of speed toward Mooney, according to a complaint filed in Kanawha Magistrate Court.
Mooney fired five shots into the rear tire of the SUV, slowing it down, troopers say. The Durango came to a stop about 500 yards away. When troopers approached it, the engine was running and no one was inside.
Krein wouldn't be found that night. Three passengers also ran but were apprehended. They were identified as Natasha Marie Ray, 18, and Alisa Ann Root, 21, both of Walton, and Joshua Benjamin Shafer, 23, of Elkview. They were arrested and charged with fleeing and obstruction.
Krein already faced charges stemming from prior incidents. The incident that night caused warrants to be issued against him for fleeing; obstruction; assault and battery of a police officer; reckless driving; driving with no license plate, no insurance and no headlights; driving with a license revoked for driving under the influence and violation of bond.
Troopers say they had talked to relatives of Krein since the Nov. 25 incident and asked them to talk to him about turning himself in. Family members reported that he wouldn't do so, McCord said.
Price and Snyder asked Krein to get out of the truck Monday night in front of the country store, but he refused.
Instead he drove forward and struck the passenger side of Price's patrol car. He then put the truck in reverse and struck one of the store's gas pumps, causing minor damage.
McCord said that's when the incident escalated. Krein was not just evading arrest, but also trying to cause harm with a deadly weapon, his truck, the sergeant said.
The troopers were faced with a tough decision, but their goal was to protect the people in and around Huffman's Country Store and others in the area, he said.
"He knew he was going to have to run over a trooper to get out of there," McCord said of Krein.
| 
