A St. Albans woman remains in jail on $150,000 bail after she allegedly intended to hurt a State Police trooper.
A Kanawha County magistrate Friday forwarded malicious wounding charges against Jennifer Garretson to the grand jury.
Garretson, 35, was shoplifting on New Year’s Eve in St. Albans when State Police Sgt. Aaron Nichols, who was off-duty at the time, tried to stop her. Nichols was thrown from Garretson’s vehicle. He remains hospitalized.
Testimony indicated Friday Garretson was shoplifting to support a drug habit. Prosecutors say Garretson did what she did in the parking lot because she didn’t want to go back to jail for violating parole.
The defense doesn’t deny the shoplifting but does deny Garretson intended to hurt the trooper.
The case is being sent to the Kanawha County grand jury for a possible indictment.
Sgt. Nichols was in intensive care for a few days but has been getting better. He’s moved to a regular room and his breathing on his own.