NEOLA W.Va. (WVDN) A West Virginia man was arrested Friday following a single-vehicle rollover crash in Greenbrier County that injured his mother, who reportedly told authorities she feared for her life during the incident, according to sheriff’s deputies.
Deputies with the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Department responded to a 911 call around 3 p.m. reporting an overturned vehicle with a person trapped inside along Pocahontas Trail/Route 92, about 21 miles north of White Sulphur Springs.
According to the responding deputy, who filed the criminal complaint, the vehicle was driven by 38-year-old Michael Deutchman, who claimed he lost control due to wet road conditions. However, the complaint states that the passenger, who was his mother, told first responders and deputies that her son had been driving erratically and had made threats against her before the crash.
The passenger stated she had been attempting to leave her son’s residence on foot with her luggage when Deutchman picked her up. She said she asked him to stop the vehicle multiple times, but he refused. At one point, Deutchman allegedly told her, “They will never find your body,” before accelerating at a high rate of speed and ultimately crashing the vehicle.
First responders noted that the victim appeared visibly terrified of her son and reported claims of threats and coercion to deputies at the scene. She was transported to Greenbrier Valley Medical Center for evaluation of injuries sustained in the crash.
A witness traveling southbound on Route 92 told deputies he had seen the vehicle speeding and later found it overturned along the roadside.
Deutchman was arrested at the scene and transported to Greenbrier Valley Medical Center for medical evaluation and a court-ordered blood draw. During the investigation, deputies also discovered what appeared to be freshly smoked marijuana inside the vehicle, according to the report.
Deutchman is facing charges of reckless driving, domestic assault, possession of narcotics and kidnapping. The investigation is ongoing.
At the time of publishing, Deutchman is in Southern Regional Jail.
