MERCER COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Deputies arrested a man after being accused of assaulting a woman and fleeing with their infant child during a violent domestic incident on Friday night.
Authorities say the incident began around 8:30 p.m. on August 15, 2025, at an apartment complex on Pauli Heights Place. The suspect, identified as Carlos Leftwich, allegedly attacked a woman outside her apartment before taking their 4-month-old child and leaving the scene in a silver Dodge Journey with a black front bumper.
Deputies received reports that Leftwich later abandoned the vehicle at the Walmart on Greasy Ridge Road before switching into a white Honda CRV belonging to a family member and heading toward Beckley.
Investigators say the suspect called relatives during the incident and claimed he would return the child only if the woman agreed not to pursue charges. The child was eventually returned safely, but deputies confirmed the woman suffered visible injuries, including a bloody nose and facial bruising.
The Dodge Journey was later recovered abandoned at the Sheetz on Courthouse Road. Surveillance footage did not capture who left the vehicle there.
Authorities later found Leftwich and charged him with Domestic Battery (1st offense) and Unlawful Taking of a Vehicle.
