Charges expected in Salt Trail would-be booby-trap

By DAN KEGLEY/Staff

A Saltville police officer’s Halloween encounter with two men on the Salt Trail netted alcohol-related charges, but the men may face new charges related to a booby-trap police say the men planned to use to damage police vehicles patrolling the trail.
Saltville Police Department Investigator J.W. Puckett wrote in his incident report that as he patrolled the Saltville-owned trail just before 11 p.m. Halloween night, he saw a man in the Santa Cruz Drive area of Washington County “trying to climb an embankment.”
The man, Puckett wrote, identified himself as James Douglas Sykes Jr. of 32314 Santa Cruz Drive. Puckett reported smelling alcohol on Sykes, who denied having consumed alcohol.
“At this time I cuffed Mr. Sykes for officer safety so I could search the rest of the area for anyone,” Puckett’s report said. “That’s when I found Darrell Hill lying in the bushes.”
Puckett reported Darrell Jay Hill, of 322 Santa Cruz Drive, smelled of alcohol.
Puckett wrote he found near Hill’s location a baseball cap lying on a “piece of wood with several large nails drove [sic] through the wood.”
Both men later admitted they had consumed alcohol, Puckett wrote.
Puckett charged Sykes, age 18, with possession of alcohol by a minor by consumption, the officer’s report showed. In Virginia the legal drinking age is 21.
Puckett’s report said he charged Hill, 41, with distribution of alcohol to a minor.
Both men are to appear in Washington County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Jan. 7, 2009, on the alcohol charges, but according to Saltville Police Chief Steve Surber, additional charges, related to the wood with nails, are pending.
Surber said Monday that an investigation found the men intended to place the nails on the trail to flatten tires on vehicles police use to patrol the trail.
“One of them admitted that’s what happened,” Surber said, and the investigation revealed a place where the nails were to be positioned on the trail. SPD is working with the Washington County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office on that investigation, he said.
Surber said his office is also working with Washington County Animal Control officials to control the sudden appearance of “barking, aggressive” dogs in the Santa Cruz area. WCAC has “picked up at least one” dog, Surber said.
Surber said Washington County has a leash law and “dogs must stay on your property.”
The chief noted Santa Cruz is in the area where many of the trail’s opponents live. While Saltville proceeded over the last three years with its Rails to Trails project to convert the former spur to Glade Spring into a recreational trail, opponents cited privacy and security concerns for their dislike of the public trail plan.
The intersection of the trail and Santa Cruz Drive was the scene of a February 2006 standoff between trail foes and Utah-based A&K Railway Materials that contracted with Saltville to remove and purchase the railroad’s steel tracks. A group of opponents told an A&K crew that was unloading equipment on Santa Cruz to leave, and that they were on private property.
The crew left and later returned, accompanied by Washington County sheriff’s deputies and a policeman from Saltville. By now, more opponents had gathered, stood by their private property argument, and the crew loaded up their equipment and departed. The steel would be collected another day.
Surber took a stern tone Monday as he noted seeing as many as 40 people enjoying the trail in Washington County on a recent sunny Sunday.
“We have jurisdiction on the trail,” he said. “We’re going to enforce any violations out there.”
Teen alcohol consumption had the attention of Washington County police in another incident Friday night, Nov. 7, when an intercepted text message lead to underage drinking charges being filed against four people.
According to a press release from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, at least four individuals, among them three juveniles and 20-year-old, will face underage drinking charges following a party.
According to Washington County Sheriff Fred Newman, sheriff’s deputies responded to a party call on Milton Drive after receiving a telephone call from a parent who had intercepted a text message about the party.
When deputies arrived, according to Newman, they found a large number of vehicles parked at the residence and between 20 to 25 individuals inside the home. When the partiers realized law enforcement was present, many of them tried to flee out the back door. One juvenile was found unconscious in the backyard.
“Our sheriff’s office appreciates the assistance provided by the parent that received the text message and to those parents who were cooperative in picking up their children,” said Newman. “A lot of people think that underage drinking is not a big deal… that is until a young person or persons are injured or killed as the result of their actions. Alcohol, teenagers and driving just do not mix.”
Additional charges were pending.