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Fayette sheriff’s deputies to pick up extra patrols after resignation of Ansted officers

ANSTED, W.Va. — The only two police officers to work in the small Fayette County town of Ansted resigned unexpectedly this week, but Fayette County Sheriff Steve Kessler said his deputies are ready to pick up the extra coverage.

“That’s in our area anyway,” he said. “We’ll just spend a little bit more time down there. I’ve talked with the guys that work on that side of the river and they’ll stop by and they’ll just run through the town as frequent as they can.”

Approximately 1400 people live in Ansted, which is situated west of Rainelle on Route 60 before Gauley Mountain. The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office will add an extra patrol to the area during the day.

“We’ll just do the extra patrols day and night until they get themselves squared back up,” Kessler said.

At this time, it’s unknown why Ansted’s only police officers chose to resign their positions.

“It’s a little unfortunate that they’ve lost their officers,” Kessler said. “But there’s other communities–Pax, Meadow Bridge–that one time had police officers and don’t. We just cover that too. That’s been for years.”

While Fayette County is one of the larger counties in the state, Kessler said his deputies are accustomed to covering large swaths of land.

“We get a big county,” he said. “We still help all the city police.”

Ansted Mayor Romie Hobbs has not yet responded to an interview request, but told local media Thursday that interested candidates could come by town hall to apply.

The town is taking applications for the Ansted Police Department through September 15.





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