BECKLEY, W.Va. — The four individuals who entered a Raleigh County coal mine last Friday night and drew national attention when they became lost will likely face charges over the incident. Raleigh County Sheriff Scott Van Meter spoke about the potential charges his department was investigating.
“You have trespassing and there’s another charge which is entering without breaking or breaking and entering a mine for the purpose of stealing or committing a felony. You also have conspiracy,” said Van Meter on MetroNews Talkline. “We’ll do our investigation and meet with the prosecuting attorney in Raleigh County and see what we think is the right charge.”
Three of the four already had pending charges from unrelated, prior incidents. Eddie Williams, 43, of Artie currently faced a charge of breaking into an Alpha Natural Resources mine and stealing 60 feet of copper wiring which was valued at more than $1,200 in January. The Beckley Register Herald reported Friday Williams had been indicted by a Raleigh County Grand Jury in May for grand larceny, destruction of property, ad trespassing for the incident. Williams is the one who managed to get out of the mine Sunday night and helped rescue teams locate the other three who were missing.
Williams isn’t the only one with an outstanding rap sheet. Court documents indicated his cousin, Kayla Williams, 25, was also indicted by a Raleigh County grand jury for possession of a control substance with intent to deliver along with felony conspiracy.
A third member of the group, Erica Treadway, 31, of Pax was free on bond when she entered the mine. She was charged by Raleigh County authorities in October with two counts of possession of a controlled substance with no prescription.
None of the three had gone to trial for those charges. Cody Beverly, 21, of Clear Creek was the fourth individual successfully rescued from the mine. Although he had no pending charges, WSAZ TV reported his father, Brandon Beverly, is in prison for mine break-ins in Raleigh, Boone, Mingo, Logan, and McDowell Counties.
As for the present investigation, public pressure is mounting on law enforcement to charge the group with something. Van Meter said his department would not be in a rush to do anything until it was thoroughly investigated and evidence gathered.
“We want to be thorough, that’s what we do here at the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department,I want to meet with the prosecutor when we have our investigation wrapped up and decide what charges we want to pursue,” he said Friday. “I don’t want to say it’s going to be today or tomorrow, but it’s not going to be three weeks from now either.”
It’s not the first time Van Meter’s deputies have had to deal with this sort of activity. The sheriff said his office routinely gets calls about trespassing on mine property and break-ins at sealed underground operations.
“People shouldn’t go into a mine. There’s no reason that anyone should be in a mine,” said Van Meter. “Abandoned mine, active mine, or inactive mine, you shouldn’t be in there unless you work there. There’s no other reason for anyone to ever be in there.”