CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A preliminary hearing is scheduled for next month in Kanawha County Magistrate Court for the logger who’s charged with illegally taking $100,000 worth of timber from Coonskin Park in Charleston.
An arrest warrant for David Russell Bowen, 50, of Charleston, was issued last week. Deputies with the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department said he turned himself in to authorities on Wednesday night.
Bowen was originally hired to remove trees from Coonskin Park that were damaged in the derecho and other storms. However, the allegation is also cut down and removed healthy trees and then sold the lumber for profit without permission.
He’s facing three felony charges — wrongful injury to timber, destruction of property and obtaining property by false pretenses. If Bowen is convicted, each count carries a possible prison sentence of one to ten years.