Northampton Grand Jury indicts several individuals

By Linda Cicoira

Two Cape Charles men, who authorities have linked to the outlaw Titan’s Motorcycle Club, and who are accused of participating in a Jan. 22 shooting in Eastville last January, were indicted Monday by a Northampton grand jury.

Thirty-one-year-old Michael Leonard Stevens, of Sherwood Gate, and forty-five-year-old Edward Thornton Tayloe, of Robin Road, were each indicted on two counts of attempted malicious wounding, two counts of attempted malicious wounding by a mob, shooting at an occupied vehicle, intentionally shooting from a vehicle, and destruction of more than $1,000 worth of property. The victims, Timothy Pope and Tyler Combs, were not injured.

Pope and Combs said at a recent preliminary hearing that they were leaving the parking lot of the restaurant/bar, Yuk, Yuk & Joe’s, in Eastville, when they saw motorcycle riders making obscene hand gestures at them. They turned south and drove into town. A motorcycle pulled up alongside them while another got in front and hit the brakes. Combs was driving and said the vehicle made contact with the motorcycle. Then the bike at the left slowed down and they heard three shots. By that time, the vehicles were in front of the old courthouse.

Shell casings were found at the scene. Bullet fragments were found inside the vehicle and made holes in its back, to a lens, and into a hunting bag in the back seat. Pope owns the vehicle and said it cost $2,000 to repair. He also said there was a vehicle behind them that night.

Thirty-seven-year-old Oliver Wendell Boggs Jr., of Jefferson Avenue in Exmore, was indicted on a count of sending a written death threat to Megan Boggs and intentionally making her phone ring in an effort to annoy her. The offenses are alleged to have occurred Feb. 25.

Forty-nine-year-old Tammy Bryant, 48, of Sharply Avenue in Norfolk, was indicted on a count of assault and battery Officer Shelby Beasley, of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel police, on April 9. Beasley was called to the toll plaza where Bryant had become extremely upset and was crying. According to court records, the suspect had watery red blood-shot eyes and smelled of alcohol.

“I observed a flask on the dash and an open bottle of apple Crown Royal on the passenger seat,” Beasley said. Once inside the building, the woman “attacked me by pushing, and dragging me, and swinging on me,” the officer reported.

Forty-four-year-old Jermaine DeMarcus Burton, of Kate’s Drive in Machipongo, was indicted on a third offense in 10 years of driving while intoxicated. The incident occurred March 27, 2020. Officer T. Lynch of Cape Charles Police Department observed the suspect speeding and swerving. According to court records, Burton admitted he was “drunk and high”

Twenty-eight-year-old Kenneth Allen Bird Chappel, of Patrician Road in Norfolk, was indicted on a count of eluding police on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel on March 2.

Twenty-five-year-old David Cruz, of Old Town Neck Drive in Eastville, was indicted on counts of eluding police, and possession of Fentanyl, on March 13

Twenty-six-year-old Javante L. Job-Wardlow, of Kenny Lane in Portsmouth, was indicted on a count of eluding police on the bridge-tunnel on April 26.  According to court records, Lt. J.L. Hickman of bridge-tunnel police clocked the defendant going 107 mph in a 55-mph zone. With his lights and sirens blaring, the officer followed at speeds in excess of 130 mph. The suspect allegedly went around another vehicle in a construction zone before again hitting more than 130 mph. Traffic after entering the second tunnel forced the defendant to pull into a closed lane and stop. When Job-Wardlaw was arrested, the car he was driving had a loaded magazine on the passenger seat and a loaded .9 mm revolver under the driver’s seat, the record noted. The defendant did not have a concealed carry permit and he was alone in the car.

Thirty-three-year-old James McCowan III, of Old Nicholson Road, in Walton, Kentucky, was indicted in connection with the May 27 strangulation of his wife, Bridget McCown.

She told police her husband punched her in the face, choked her, and took her cell phone. When an officer arrived at the scene, her lip was busted with fresh blood, dried blood was in her right nostril, and a red rash was around her throat. It took about a half-hour for her voice to come back and when it did, she was “very hoarse,” the court documents stated. The suspect has a tattoo on his chest of an eight ball with a skull with the name Bridgett, the records disclosed.

Thirty-six-year-old Demetrius Terry Mitchell, of Riviera Drive in Virginia Beach, was indicted on a count of possession with the intent to distribute psilocyn, a hallucinogenic, and possession of more than a half-ounce of marijuana, on Nov. 29.

Thirty-four-year-old Jose Ramon Negron Jr., of Nassawadox, was indicted on a count of possession of cocaine or a cocaine derivative on Jan. 17.

Forty-year-old Amanda Marie Pruitt, of Prospect Lane in Cheriton, was indicted on a count of assault and battery of a police officer on May 16. She is alleged to have kicked Deputy Avery Gaskins in the leg.

Forty-three-year-old Sherry P. Sandlin, of Cosby Street in Painter, was indicted on four counts of uttering checks totaling $620. The offenses occurred last August, in Exmore.

Thirty-two-year-old Jose J. Velez, of Hasbrouck CC Road, in Woodburn, New York, was indicted on a count of knowingly receiving stolen property, a 2020 Infinity Q10-50 valued at $500. The incident occurred May 17, 2020. Velez told police a friend who rented the car allowed him to use it a couple of days before his arrest.

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