Logan County Courthouse
CHARLESTON – In separate filings, two men say they were victims of excessive force at the hands of Logan County Sheriff’s deputies just a day apart.
In the first federal complaint, Ernest James Vance of Logan County sued four Logan County deputies, Sheriff Paul D. Clemens and the Logan County Commission. The deputies are Cody L. Carter, Charles Rosser, Zachary Lilly and Hunter Scott Workman.
In the second federal complaint, Andrew James Somervill of Wood County sued Rosser, Carter, Clemens, the Logan County Commission and three unnamed officers.
According to the first complaint, the four deputies were dispatched to an alleged domestic dispute June 6, 2024, in Mount Gay between Vance and Wayne Vance. Logan County 911 said a third party at the scene had a firearm, but there was no report the plaintiff brandished or possessed a firearm.
Tish (left) and Truman Chafin
When the deputies arrived at the plaintiff’s house, he was on the front porch. The complaint says the alleged altercation was over, and the parties were not in close proximity to each other.
Carter ordered Vance to exit his porch and proceed to the patrol vehicle, and Vance told Carter he would exit the porch to the yard to talk. But “if he was not being detained or arrested, under his rights, he did not have to go to the cruiser,” the complaint states.
Masters
Despite being scared Carter and the other officers might hurt him, Vance went into the yard. Carter then approached Vance and told him he was being placed under arrest. When Vance stepped back, he says Carter used a Taser on him.
After that, Vance says the other three deputies joined Carter in assaulting him by using a choking mechanism and striking him on the head and body repeatedly with closed fists, weighted/reinforced gloves and a flashlight until Vance was unconscious.
A video of the assault shows Vance “merely holding his hands up submissively, and he was not combative even as defendant officers continued to assault him,” the complaint states, which also notes Vance wasn’t armed and did not threaten the officers.
While being transported to the Southwest Regional Jail, Vance says he was struck in the head with a flashlight that left a “recognizable tool mark wound” on his forehead while he was “handcuffed behind his back with his head covered.” He then was taken to Logan Regional Medical Center before going to the jail.
After being released from jail, Vance sought treatment for his injuries at Boone Memorial Hospital that also included blood in his urine because of blows to his body and kidneys. He says he continues to receive medical treatment for injuries from the incident.
In the Somervill complaint, he says Carter and Rosser responded to a motor vehicle pursuit June 5, 2024, involving the Logan Police Department that ended at Joey Dingess Hollow in Chapmanville. When the deputies arrived, Somervill says he was handcuffed behind his back in the rear right back seat of a LPD cruiser when one of the unknown deputies told Rosser to hit Somervill.
Rosser then entered the back seat of the cruiser and began to assault Somervill by repeatedly striking his head and body with closed fists and weighted or reinforced gloves. Carter and another unnamed deputy then opened the other door and took turns assaulting Somervill with closed fists, according to the complaint.
Somervill says he didn’t strike the officers or make any offensive fighting maneuvers and was not armed and didn’t threaten anyone.
He was transported to Logan Regional Medical Center for treatment before being taken to jail. Those injuries included both of his eyes and ears being blackened, his lip being busted, a tooth being knocked loose and his face being bloodied.
Both complaints list several other instances of officers using excessive force, saying it’s a pattern and practice within the Logan County Sheriff’s Department.
Both plaintiffs accuse the defendants of using excessive force, breaching their duty of responsible care, acting with malicious purpose in bad faith in a wanton and reckless manner, negligence, unlawfully causing violent injury and violating constitutional rights.
Both says they have suffered physical and bodily injuries, past and future medical expenses, mental pain and suffering, severe emotional and mental distress, fear and other damages. Both plaintiffs seek compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
Both plaintiffs are being represented by H. Truman Chafin, Letitia Neese Chafin and Stacey Kohari of The Chafin Law Firm in Williamson and by Marvin W. Masters of The Masters Law Firm in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 2:250-cv-00319 (Vance) and 2:25-cv-00350 (Somervill)
