MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Three people are in jail in connection with an armed home invasion early Sunday morning.
Alvin A. Hines, 27, of Cohasset, Minnesota, is charged with burglary and first-degree armed robbery. Jason M. Nicholson, 31, of Mount Clare, and Jay M. Bowman, 26, of Jane Lew, are charged with conspiracy.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to a burglary call on Pedlar Run Road about 1:45 a.m. Sunday morning, according to a criminal complaint.
The victim told deputies a man came into her house and showed her a gun. She said he walked around the house stealing things and tried to find her car keys, but couldn’t.
The robber left in a car parked at the bottom of her driveway and headed toward Mason-Dixon Highway, she told deputies.
Deputies tracked cell phones that were stolen and, during a patrol of the Pursglove area, found two cars parked on the side of the road near Number 8 Hollow, the complaint states.
Hines, Nicholson and Bowman said they were together in a black Toyota Celica and told deputies the car broke down. The other vehicle came to pick them up, the three said.
The second vehicle’s driver confirmed their story and added the three men started loading items from the Celica into her car, according to the complaint.
One of the men had a cell phone that matched the description given by the victim, and a smart TV and HP laptop were found in the second car. The second vehicle’s driver said they did not belong to her and the items were some of those loaded into her car, the complaint states.
A dark revolver that matched the description given by the victim was found under the driver’s seat of the Celica in plain view, the criminal complaint states.
The three men were lined up outside of a police cruiser the victim was in and she identified Hines as the burglar.
All three were arraigned Sunday in Monongalia County Magistrate Court by Magistrate Darris Summers. Bond was set at $250,000 for Hines and $100,000 for Nicholson and Bowman.
As of Monday afternoon, all three men remained in North Central Regional Jail.
Story by William Dean