| GUN THREATS - Barbour County man is in custody in Elkins after hitting a woman in the face and brandishing a weapon at her, officers said.
On Jan. 23, officers with the Elkins Police Department were dispatched in reference to a female victim stating she was running from a male in the area, according to a criminal complaint.
According to the victim, she and another female were having a conversation while in their vehicle about going to the Dollar General to purchase feminine hygiene products when a male, identified as Richard Swiger, 25, of Belington, who was in the front passenger seat of the car said, “Do you always have to steal?” officers said.
When the victims were in the turning lane to go to the Dollar General, Swiger smacked one of them in the face, knocking off her glasses, then hit her once more in the face, according to the complaint.
The vehicleâs driver pulled over and she began to flee on foot from Swiger, who turned to point the gun at a victim in the backseat when she said she was going to call the cops, officers said. According to the victim who had the gun pointed at her, the firearm was a small “single shot” brown and black weapon, the complaint states.
Later, law enforcement officers found Swiger in Barbour County found Swiger was read his Miranda rights, which he waved, officers said, and during his interview with officers he said the incident had stemmed from “a bunch of arguing and fighting” that had happened earlier that day; but when Swiger was asked to elaborate, he said he couldnât remember.
Also, Swiger told officers he threw the gun out of the window, and when asked why he did it, he said, that the victim “was an ignorant type of person” ⦠“it made me scared because I donât know what she was going to tell anybody or anything,” but didnât go into further detail on the incident or firearm, according to the criminal complaint.
Swiger is charged with wanton endangerment. He is being held in Tygart Valley Regional Jail on $75,000 bond. |
