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Volume 90 No. 21
HINTON NE W'S
(Continuing the Hinton Daily,Ne,s & The Weekend Leader)
Home of the W. Va. Water Festival
Hinton, West Virginia Tuesday Sept. 17, 1991
25
Cents
i: i
! I
Aucremanne
Bound Over to
Grand Jury
By Fred Long
Felony charges that County Prose-
tutor Joe Aucremanne allegedly
injured a Pennsylvania man during
a July altercation will be presented
to the January term of the Grand
Jury, Greenbrier County Magistrate
Louis L. Longanacre ruled Wednes-
day following a preliminary hearing
in Magistrate Court.
Aucremanne faces a malicious
assault charge filed by Paul Witiw
(pronounced: Wit-too) of Philadel-
phia who claims on the night of July
20th Aucremanne "grabbed me and
threwme tothe greund'injuring the
back of his head, he said in his
complaint. ........
Aucremanne took the stand,
Wednesday morning, to give his si de
of the story, telling the court, =I am
denying absolutely that I threw this
man to the ground," he said when
questioned by Special Prosecutor
Steve Hunter, of Lewisburg.
Only two witnesses to the inci-
dent gave testimony during the two
hour hearing before Longanacre:
State Trooper 1st Class Ronald C.
Jones, for the State, and Aucre-
manne.
Jones, in what may be one of the
few times in WV that a state police
officer has testified against a prose-
curing attorney, went to the Witiw
residence to investigate gun fire at
the request of Aucremanne, he told
the court. Aucremanne had called
the State Police Dispatcher in Beck-
ley to report the gun fire and asked
for an officer to call him. Jones
called him and =I advised Mr. Aucre-
manne if he was on his own land
shooting a weapon, and there wasn't
any danger to any one or anything
else, that really I had no reason to be
there. He insisted that I check this
out. I advised him that I would."
Jones said he arrived sometime
between 9:15 and 9:30 pm and talked
with Witiw and Harold Leberman,
who was also on the property, and an
eightyear old child. Both adultshad
been drinking but did not appear to
be intoxicated, he said.
Aucremanne had told Jones on
the phone about =hearing a child
crying and screaming which
promptedJones'to make an investi-
gation," Jones testified. =There was
nothing about the child that lead me
to believe anything was wrong," he
said.
According to Jones, Leberman told
him he had "recently purchased a
shotgun at a flea market and had
been test firing the weapon on the
property." Jones said he told them
not to do any more shooting that
night which they agreed to.
=There was no problem there
whatsoever," he testified. =Within a
few minutes Mr. Aucremanne came
on the scene. Mr. Aucremanne came
up to me and I think my first words
to him were: 'What are you doing
here?' He wanted toknow why I had
not contacted him about what was
going on. I told him I hadn't had
time to contact him, if he wanted to
know the truth."
Aucremanne asked to speak with
Witiw's son, which Witiw agreed to,
and both Aucremanne and the boy
walked over toward Aucremanne's
car that was parked 15 to 20 feet
away. Jones continued to talk to
Witiw and Leberman while Aucre-
manne talked with the boy. I-le had
hi s back toward me so I couldn't hear
what the conversation was," Jones
said.
After a few minutes Witiw, about
5' 7" and 125 to 130 pounds, walked
over to Aucremanne and told him he
wanted to be good neighbors and
that Aucremanne didn't have to call
the police. "We could have worked
this out, = Jones testified Witiw told
Aucremanne.
Witiw didn't say anything %hreat-
ening, no foul language, cursing or
nothing that that nature,"Jones said.
"And without saying anything what-
soever Mr. Aucremanne grabbed Mr.
Witiw with both hands by each arm
and foreedly4dmhim toe greamd.
At which time he struck his head on
a rock." Jones later saying "he landed
on his back. His head hit the ground
and bounced back up."
Jones said at that point "I moved
in, saying it appeared to him that
Aucremanne was going to further
assault" him and =I forcediy pushed
him away, back to his vehicle, and
then I helped Mr. Witiw up. I ad-
vised Mr. Aucremanne to getin his
vehicle and immediately leave the
scene."
Jones said when Witiw hit the
ground Aucremanne turned to him
and said "he's drunk, he fell didn't
he, Ron?' I said, 'No sir. He didn't. "
Jones said =Aucremanne was as such
that I had never seen him before. I
couldn't detect any alcoholic bever-
age on his breath. His eyes told me
a different story. It's my opinion
that he was under the influence of
something. What, I don't know."
Jones said he didn't make'an
arrest that night for reasons that he
didn't tell the court, but "if I had to
do it over again, knowing what I
know now, I would place him under
arrest for a felony and for obstruc-
tion of an officer."
Aucremanne gave a completely
different account of what happened
that night. Aucremanne said the
only drink he had that night was a
scotch and water that he was sip-
ping on while reading the paper on
his front porch when he heard =U
number of shoots that were close
together. Then I heard a man
screaming and cursing in a very loud
voice. Some more shoot= and some
more screaming and a child crying."
Aucremanne said he called the
police at 8:24 but at 9:25 he still
hadn't gotten acall from the Trooper.
In the meantime he called a neigh-
ber and was told two children were
on the property. He later learned
that was incorrect, he said. He said
the yelling continued until dark and
stopped. I didn't hear "the child
anymore and that frightened me,
because as long as I heard the child
making noise I knew a child was
alive," Aucremanne testified.
Aucremanne maid when he heard
the Trooper's vehicle pull into the
graveled driveway to Witiw's camp
he, and his son, drove out to find out
what the shooting was all about.
Aucremanne said he could e
Jones talking with the two other
people and was surprieed to see two
adults. He walked over toJonsa and
was told =that everything wu under
control. That we had two intoxi-
cated individuals here who had been
drinking and, yes, they had been
shooting."
"I told the trooper that I was
concerned about the child's welfare,"
Aucremanne said, "and I asked Mr.
Witiw and the trooper if he had any
problem with me taking the child
over to one side and assuring myself
that everything was all right. We
walked back a few feet until we were
close to the front of my vehicle and
offto one side. I got down, squattec
down so that I could look the boy in
the eye."
Aucremanne said the boy's face
was red and he had been crying
because their dog was missing.
Aucremanne said he was checking
the child for possible child abuse and
was just about finished when Witiw
BOE Signs Agreement with Tassos
Dr. William P. Mathews, Vice-President of the
Summers County Board of Education, signs an
agreement that dissolves all claims against for-
mer school superintendent Jimmy Tassos. The
agreement, which was modified by Tassos' attor-
ney following its release by the School Board late
last month, ended a two year dispute between
Tassos and the county board. "In consideration of
the payment" of $60,000 all dismissed charges
"which either of them ever had, or now has, from
the beginning of time to the date of this agree-
Board President Bill Dillon, on the left, said:
Wrhere are members on this Board that do not
agree with allitems in this agreement; but, for the
good of our school system, and because of a major-
ity vote to approve the agreement, all Board
members recognize this vote as legal and binding
and at this time will execute the agreement."
Mathews and member Charles Neely voted against
entering into the agreement with Tassos. Also
show (in the center) is interim Superintendent
"Riehie" Rode== and Business Manager Joe Kessler,
walked w/eg,- .......
"I stood up. He faced me. He is
about my height, and he said he
didn't like me talking with his son
witout being present. I said, 'Mr.
Witiw the reason I'm talking with
your son is because I'm the Prosecut-
ing Attorney and I need to reassure
myself that your child is all right
and if you will go back and stand
near Trooper Jones there won't be
any problem. I just want to make
sure he is all right.' And he said, 'I
don't want you talking with my son
without me being present.' I told
him I was the Prosecuting Attorney
and this is official business and I
assured him I would be done in just
a minute. 'You have to go over there
and talk to Mr. Jones and Mr. Leber-
man.' I had my hands at my side.
Mr. Witiw had his arms at his side.
And for the third time he repeated
the statement that he didn't want
me to interview the child. And for
the third time I told him. "You will
have to go hack over there. '
Aucremanne said at this point,
using his attorney Paul Detch for a
demonstration, he took his left hand
and gently touched Mr. Witiw just
above his right elbow. My right
arm stayed down. I turnedhim, very
gently because I could tell he had
been drinking. I said, TIr. Witiw I
want you to go stand over there.' He
took one step and he fell. I didn't
hold on to him. I didn't use any more
force then I just now did with Mr.
Detch, and he fell and he fell flat on
his back in the driveway."
Aucremanne said the place where
he fell is a "smooth graveled drive-
way with some grass growing there."
Aucremanne said his head didn't
bounce and after he fell "I reached
down with my right arm and helped
Mr. Witiw get to his feet."
Jones was "pretty upset," Aucre-
manne said and told him in a =tone
that was really out of place at the
time. "You stay right there. I want
you to stay right by your car. =
According to Aucremanne, Jones
was talking to Leberman and Witiw.
=I could hear Jones- and oddly
enough- I heard Mr. Witiw and Mr.
Leberman both say to Mr. Jones.
'How can you say that. He's the
Prosecuting Attorney. He's your
bo. What are you saying that for?'
They appeared to be upset at some-
thing Mr. Jones was saying. I
couldn't hear it," Aucremanne teeti-
fled.
=I did not intend to harm Mr.
Witiw at any time that night," Au-
¢remanne said.
Hunter argued that Jones' testi-
mony =is believable" and that Aucre-
manne =used more than any amount
Continued on page 2
.................... 4merit," it said. Prior to sigingtheagrement¢ .witneN4o thestgning ...................................
By Fred Long
A contract between school offi-
cials and former superintendent
Jimmy Tassos brought an end to a
two year long dispute between them
when all parties signed an amended
agreement to settle all claims Thurs-
day night during the regular meet-
ing of the Board of Education.
On August 27 the School Board
submitted an agreement to Tassos
that wouldresult in the county school
system liftingits suspension charges
and the State Board withdrawing its
attempt to revoke Tassos' teaching
and administrative certificates. On
the morning of Sept. 12 Tassos sub-
mitted a signed amended agreement
that was approved by a split vote of
the Board that night following a 90
minute "executive session.
According to the agreement, State
charges were being withdrawing "in
exchange" for Tassos agreeing to
"withdraw and dismiss all pending
actions involving employee and the
State Superintendent of Schools and
the State Board of Education."
The State charges were dismissed
Sept. 6, said Erwin Conrad, Tassos'
attorney. "That's already been done.
It was done in advance through an
exchange of letters between coun-
cil," Conrad said.
Conrad would not comment on
any part of the agreement because of
a "gag order" that prevents anyone
from discussing it.
"The employer and employee
acknowledge that this document is a
public document and, once released
to the public, neither the employer,
the employer's administrative cen-
tral office staff, its Board members,
its attorneys, nor the employee or
his attorney shall make any public
comment about matters relative to
any provision herein or to the sus-
pension or to the grievance but will
allow the document to speak for it-
self," it says.
Tasses, in exchange for $60,000,
of which over $44,000 represents
the entire payment for future loss of
Held on
wages," agreed to leave the school
system and dismiss his grievance
before the West Virginia Education
and State Employees Grievance
Board. Tassos also agreed to release
Boardmembers, officers, employees,
representatives, and attorneys "from
any and all actions" including =any
claims arising from any alleged vie-
Continued on page 2
House Fire Suspected
Arson Case
tion of the person or persons that
caused the fire."
Saunders said he and joint owner
Glenna Jo Oliver, of Washington D.
C., are "going to build back because
it was a nice house."
Firemen were on the scene for
about I hours and 20 minutes, fire'-
man Joe Adkins said. Seventeen
men responded with a pumper truck
and rescue truck, he said.
Although the fire was set, Pivont
did not believe this fire is connected
with the earlier fires that destroyed
four business places between April
and July. "The others were business
buildings and this was a dwelling.
You can't really tell if it was the
same person."
Pivont said he believed if the fires
were similar the entire building
would have been engulfed in flames
when the firemen arrived. This fire
was confined to the kitchen and "we
got it out pretty quick."
By Fred Long
A house fire at 167 State Street,
last week, "was definitely set," Hin-
ton Fire Chief Ray Pivont said, =but
we don't know if it was accidental or
intentionally. The fire marshal
seemed to think it was an arson
case ."
About 1:11 am, Sept. 9, fire was
discovered at the rear of the empty
house where it did extensive dam-
age breaking through the roof above
the kitchen.
According to Rev. Matthew W.
Saunders, who lives next door and is
part owner, the building had been
vacant for sometime and he had just
secured a renter for the building a
few days before the fire. IVIy per-
sonal belief is that someone broke
into it."
Saundere said he didn't have any
insurance on the property and is
%ffering a $500 reward for informa-
tion leading to the arrest and convic-
Man Jumps From
Bluestone Bridge
By Sheri Bonson
A 21 year old man apparently
committed suicide, Sunday, by jump.
ing from the Bluestone Bridge, on
Rt. 20, making him the eighth per.
son to end his life by jumping from
what was once the highest bridge in
West Virginia.
Michael E. Chapman, of Canvas,
WV,jumped from the 125 footbridge
into less than 14 feet ofwat=r at 6:45
pro, Sunday, according to Sgt. H. C.
Ryan of the State Police.
A witnesses told Ryan "he just
wanted to jump."
"Because of the extremely muddy
water, the body was not recovered
until 10 am yesterday morning, said
Ray Gill with the Summers County
Vol. Fire Dept. and Rescue Squad.
Along with the Rescue Squad,
rescue operations were assisted by
the Beaver Vol. Fire Dept., J. B. /
Nimitz Vol. Fire Dept., Corps of
Engineers at Bluestone Dam and
the National Park Service.
$40 000 Chamber Received $3,000 Grant
The Summers Cotmty Chamber from the Benedum Foundation.
By Fred Long of Commerce has been ulected to
Robert Lee Bower, St., 44, isbeing receive a $3,000 grant through Small
held in the Summers County Jail Communities Development Assis-
pending $40,000 bond following his tance Program and 4-C Economic
arraignment on felony assault Development Corporation. The grant
charges, Wednesday night, before is to be used for planning and imple-
countyMag istrateJamesE.=Wootie" menting seminars for the business
Beasley. and educational communities. This
Continued on page 2 grant is made poible by a grant
Some of the projects the Chamber
will sponsor as a result of this fund-
ing include: Career symposium for
high school students, Visitor's Cen-
ter/Chamber information brochure,
Community Awarene minar,
info;maon directory, d pono'
a work-study student at the Visitor's
Center.