CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Charleston City Police announced Wednesday that an internal investigation is underway to determine if city police officers handled a Tuesday night traffic stop of state Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston appropriately.
A CPD statement said a caller to Kanawha County Metro 911 said Wriston driving erratically on the East End of Charleston at about 11 p.m. City officers stopped him on Interstate 77 near the Leon Sullivan Way exit a few minutes later.
“The driver was identified as Jimmy Wriston,” the CPD statement said. “Mr. Wriston was not charged or cited for any traffic or criminal
offense at that time.”
Gov. Jim Justice confirmed during his Wednesday media briefing that Wriston was pulled over while driving a state vehicle and then allowed to continue to drive.
“From what I was told Secretary Wriston was pulled over and let go and then let continued to drive,” Justice sad. “If that is the case I’m sure the police did their job properly.”
Several media outlets received an email, photos and a video from the traffic stop on Interstate 77 near Daniel Boone Park in Charleston.
Justice said there’s no attempt from his office to cover anything up.
Justice said he just learned about the incident a few minutes before his briefing.
“To say he was pulled over and issued a DUI or whatever like that, from what I know right now that’s not the case,” Justice said. “You know how I feel about this and we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
Justice added there is no excuse for drunk driving.
“There is nothing whatsoever as far as an excuse that we should have an employee of the state of West Virginia driving a state vehicle under the influence of alcohol that is pulled over and issued a DUI,” Justice said.
MetroNews has reached out to the state Department of Transportation for comment on the incident.