MONONGAH, W.Va. — Marion County Prosecutor Jeffrey Freeman has dropped the charges against Beth Delloma, 45, after a traffic stop Thursday went viral due to the actions of Monongah Police Chief Nathan Lanham.
Delloma was stopped Thursday for an expired registration sticker by Lanham, who was not in a typical uniform or a marked cruiser. The interaction spiraled out of control when Delloma asked for identification and Lanham refused. Lanham pointed his service weapon at Delloma several times and wrestled her to the ground as she attempted to flee the scene for help.
“He filed a motion to dismiss the case,” Delloma’s attorney Joe Shaffer said of the prosecutor during a Monday appearance on MetroNews “Talkline.” “He asserts in the motion that the facts in the complaint do not support the felony charge of fleeing in a motor vehicle and reckless indifference to the safety of others.”
Shaffer said Lanham pulled her over initially wearing khaki pants with a firearm strapped to his thigh and a nylon t-shirt and requested her driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance. Because of the uniform, she cracked her window and asked Lanham for identification, and he identified himself Monongah police chief and became irate, Shaffer said.
Shaffer said Delloma wanted to escape what she thought was a police impersonator by telling him the documents were at her home and began to drive slowly to her home, which was about 30 yards away.
“We’re talking about a 49-year-old woman who is very intelligent and she’s aware of cases across the country where people have impersonated police officers and pulled over women,” Shaffer said. “The shirt he had on can be purchased on Amazon.”
She circled around near her home, which was across the street from her mother and sister’s homes. Lanham pulled his service weapon, ordered her out of the car and threatened to shoot her.
“She became extremely fearful,” Shaffer said. “He then would point the gun at her head area and then alternate pointing it down to her crotch or lap area, and he did that three or four times while he was screaming, ‘If you don’t get out of the car, I’ll shoot you.'”
Lanham then broke the driver’s side window and ordered her out of the car again. Shaffer said Delloma became afraid for her life at that point and fled through the passenger side door. Lanham ran around the car, and he threw Delloma to the ground and put her in handcuffs as she exited the vehicle.
“Then he circles around the back of the car and slams her to the ground, handcuffs her, and at some point, for some reason, he grabbed on her ear and pulled her ear; I don’t know why he did that.”
Shaffer said the incident was traumatic for Delloma and her family as they watched and took video of Lanham’s actions. Delloma believed Lanham was not a police officer and became more convinced he was an impersonator after declining to produce some form of identification.
“It’s like an outer body experience for her at that point,” Shaffer said. “She’s quite certain she’s going to die. Her sister and mother are watching this entire thing and she’s in a frenzy and doesn’t know what’s going on.”
Shaffer also said there are unconfirmed reports of misconduct by Lanham in at least one other incident in Marion County and possibly one other in Harrison County.