Kimberly D. Vance, 36, of Man, was charged with child neglect creating risk of injury by Sgt. Dave Walls of the Man Police Department and Attempted Uttering by Chief Elbert Vance of the Chapmanville Police Department on Thursday.
Earlier this month, Vance had been arrested in both municipalities on fraud related charges; the second arrest coming after Vance had convinced Sgt. Walls and Magistrate Dwight Williamson that she was trying to get help for her substance abuse problem.
After the second arrest, Vance had a hold filed on her and was kept at the Southwestern Regional Jail at Holden until her preliminary hearing on fraud related charges. At that hearing, Vance and Walls presented her with warrants on the new charges.
Magistrate Leonard Codispoti verbally admonished Vance for going out and committing the same crime in Chapmanville she had been arrested for in Man, and asked Vance if she felt she was a good parent, having drugs and syringes in the home with two small children.
"No, I am not," said a tearful Vance who admitted she was not proud of the things she had done. Public Defender Dwayne Adkins said Vance intended to get help and had been enrolled in a treatment program. Codispoti noted she faced one to five years in prison as the possible penalty on the charges she faced.
"It's easier to get a job than it is to steal," Codispoti said, adding he was putting a $5,000 bond on Vance.
Prosecutor Phil Amick said Vance had been promised a spot in the Renaissance Center in Huntington for a nine-month treatment program, and asked that she be kept in custody until transported to the rehab center.
Adkins said the court could make staying in rehab a condition of Vance's bond.
"You should be ashamed of yourself," Codispoti said.
Attorney Donna Pratt explained to Vance that if she did not finish the program or tried to leave it, she would go right back to jail as a condition of her bond.
Vance husband was out on bond for drug possession charges and had a hearing scheduled for Friday where he was expected to be served a warrant for additional charges, noted Sgt. Walls, who served Vance with a warrant on the child neglect charges. That criminal complaint states that on Nov. 13, while searching her residence with an employee of Child Protective Services, two separate hypodermic needles "were found, one was within reach of the accused's two juvenile daughters, ages four and seven. One of which contained a milky-white substance that the accused had said contained morphine. "
Chief Elbert Vance told The Logan Banner that he had another warrant to serve Vance with charging her with uttering for cashing a money order.
"She got the money out of it, so that makes it uttering," Vance said.
Magistrate Codispoti told Walls to execute the warrants on Vance. Codispoti then had a hearing on the extra charges. Dwayne Adkins asked that the charges be consolidated and to bond her over to send her to the Renaissance Center with a requirement that she complete the program or have a hold or attachment filed on her.
"Who will take her?" Codispoti asked. Donna Pratt said an employee of the Renaissance Center would come to take custody of Vance on Friday.
Dwayne Adkins asked that a personal recognizance bond be placed on Vance who could not afford cash bond and that she be held at the jail until the center can take custody of her. Adkins said the program she is enrolled in will be six to nine months long. Amick asked that she be required to return from the regional jail after she completes the program.
"She will be there through Christmas," Codispoti said. "She can't leave."
Adkins told Codispoti that Vance will be required to get a job when she completes rehab and that her children are in foster care.
Vance was initially arrested by Sgt. D.W. Walls on Nov. 10 for attempted uttering and obtaining goods under false pretenses after she allegedly entered Speedway on Main Street and took a $300 money order without paying for it, then allegedly attempted to cash the money order at the 7-11 on Bridge Street. A Be On Look Out alert was sent out and Sgt. Walls pulled over her vehicle. A tearful Vance was released on bond after she assured authorities she was addicted to drugs and was trying to get into a treatment program. However, on November 13, she was arrested again on a warrant from the Chapmanville Police Department for similar charges in that town.
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