RIPLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A resident of Cedar Lakes Mobile Home Park in Jackson County faces charges pertaining to the illegal procurement of electricity from a neighbor’s residence, along with a separate instance of domestic battery.
According to documents from Jackson County Magistrate Court, on May 5, 2024, authorities received reports of an individual stealing electricity at a residence in the area.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputies Roush and Abel responded to the call, making contact with the victim at his residence. The victim “stated that he was tired of paying his neighbor’s electric bill.” Deputies were escorted to an outdoor electric receptacle where an extension cord could be seen.
Photos were provided of the extension cord having previously been plugged into the receptacle. The victim stated that the issue had been persisting for one week and that he had unplugged the extension cord three separate times up to this point, potentially more.
The victim informed authorities that his neighbor was Tommy Casto. No one was home at the residence when deputies attempted to make contact with the homeowner.
The following day, Deputy Roush returned to the residence and was able to confirm Thomas Wilson Casto as a resident there. Casto denied stealing the electricity and stated that the complainant allowed him “to run some lights in his place.”
On June 5, 2024, Sgt. Williams of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office received reports of a domestic altercation involving Casto which had occurred on June 4, 2024.
The victim state that she had been at a Ripley residence when Casto, her on-again-off-again boyfriend, arrived and asked that she leave with him. It was stated that as the two were driving in the Ripley area that Casto punched her twice in the stomach and once in the chest.
Notably, the victim has a pacemaker, and feared for her life once she was punched in the chest.
The victim stated the car stopped at the residence of a friend of Casto’s and a female pushed her back into the car when she attempted to exit. This individual is reported to have said she would “bash her brains in” if she did not stop screaming. Casto is said to have also began striking the victim at this time.
Sgt. Williams made notes of multiple apparent injuries visible on the victim. The victim stated that she is frightened of injury or even death at the hands of Casto, who pled guilty to domestic assault 3rd offense in Jackson County Court on February 4, 2020.
Casto was arrested for Domestic Battery 3rd Offense and Procuring Utilities.
