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Pair charged in chase with stolen van headed to court

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Kenndal Russell

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Daniel J. Ammons

The criminal cases against two people who allegedly led police on a chase in a stolen van last month waived their preliminary hearings and will proceed to Washington County Court.

Kenndal Russell, 22, of Muse, and Daniel J. Ammons, 30, of Spraggs, each waived their preliminary hearing scheduled before District Judge Ethan Ward Tuesday.

An officer on patrol in the Washington area May 15 spotted the van, confirming it had been reported stolen. The van – allegedly with Russell at the wheel and with Ammons as a passenger – proceeded through part of Canton Township into North Franklin Township, where it ran a red light on North Ring Road before getting on Interstate 70 going west.

Russell allegedly exited the interstate at Claysville and followed Route 40 until it went into the parking lot for the Donegal Township municipal building in the village of West Alexander. It went through the lot and onto a trail along old railroad tracks behind the building. The van then crashed into a concrete barrier on the trail.

Autumn Johnson of Morgantown, W.Va., had reportedly awakened two days earlier to find the van – which she said she uses to safely transport her disabled son – missing.

Russell, whom Johnson said she’d helped after Russell told Johnson she was homeless, was also gone.

State police charged Russell with fleeing or attempting to elude police and receiving stolen property, driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance following the incident, and later added identity theft, unauthorized use of an access device, reckless endangerment and a litany of traffic offenses to the charges against her. She is jailed on $50,000 bond.

Ammons, who is charged with receiving stolen property and fleeing, was released after Ward amended the terms on Ammons’ $2,500 bond from secured to unsecured.

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