# Mayor Tries Firing West Virginia Officer For Issuing Warrant



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*ANDREW CLEVENGER*
_Courtesy of The Charleston Gazette_

Clendenin Mayor Bob Ore allegedly obstructed two Clendenin police officers when they were trying to make an arrest, according to a criminal complaint in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

On Monday evening, Ore tried to get Clendenin Town Council members to fire the officer who filed the complaint against him, according to one councilman. Council members unanimously refused, said Councilman T.J. Edmonds.

Chief Magistrate Kim Aaron signed a warrant Saturday for Ore's arrest on one charge of obstructing a police officer.

Ore said Monday afternoon that he had not been served with the warrant, and declined to comment until he had been served.

According to the criminal complaint, Clendenin police officers C.L. Burkhamer and W.S. Hunter went to a home on North Point Drive on April 20 to serve warrants for domestic battery on Terry Lee Peck and his girlfriend, Misti Dawn Sexton.

When the officers arrived, Peck handed a cordless phone to Burkhamer, according to the complaint. Ore was on the line, and asked the officer if he was there to arrest Peck and Sexton, Burkhamer wrote in the complaint.

Burkhamer told the mayor that he had obtained warrants from Kanawha Magistrate Tim Halloran.

"Mr. Ore then advised me that I didn't need to arrest these two individuals, especially at 11:30 at night," Burkhamer wrote in the complaint. "He then stated ... that these two are not hardened criminals."

Burkhamer informed Ore that Peck and Sexton were accused of abusing a 4-year-old girl, according to the complaint.

"[Ore] then stated, 'You heard me officer, do not arrest them,'" and hung up, according to the complaint.

Afraid of retaliation from the mayor, Burkhamer told Peck and Sexton to turn themselves in at magistrate court first thing in the morning, according to the complaint. Peck and Sexton were arrested the next day, April 21, and released after they each posted $250 cash bond.

Burkhamer could not be reached for comment on Monday.

At the May 22 council meeting, Edmonds called for Ore's resignation because of his alleged interference in the arrest. Ore stomped out of the meeting before it was finished.

After the meeting, Edmonds said he was shocked at what he said was Ore's interference with the arrest. "It goes against human decency," he said. "I dont need a law book to tell me its wrong."

Hunter, the police officer, also expressed his dismay after the meeting with Ores actions.

"What's the point of having us if the mayor won't let us do our jobs?" he said. "They need to hire a security guard ..."

Since he took office last year, the 78-year-old Ore has repeatedly locked horns with Clendenin's town council. In April, the council laid off four town employees  including chief of police Dan Gillespie  to help curtail spending for the financially strapped town. Ore told the chief to ignore the councils actions.

Ore sued the council members in Kanawha Circuit Court over his right to hire and fire police leaders. Residents of the 1,000-person town have also sued members of the town council and the town recorder, alleging that Clendenin's finances have been mismanaged. These cases are still pending.

Ore and council members have also disagreed on what to do with the towns roughly 80-year-old water plant. Ore favors selling the aging facility to West Virginia-American Water, but some town officials fear that would increase residents' water bills.

If convicted of obstructing a police officer, Ore could face a fine of up to $500 and up to one year in jail.


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