PUTNAM COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A Putnam County man faces multiple charges following a hit-and-run incident that left several vehicles damaged and prompted a DUI investigation.
According to authorities, Scotty Gene Short, from Ohio, was detained after a silver Ford F-150 crashed into a ditch on Winfield Road. Witnesses told 911 that Short had stepped from the vehicle, appeared intoxicated, and even brandished a knife at one bystander before getting back into his truck.
Officers noted heavy front-end damage to the truck, empty beer cans in plain sight, and evidence that the airbags had been tampered with from a previous crash. Short refused all field sobriety tests and chemical breath tests, prompting police to request a blood draw via court order.
Investigators also linked Short to two prior hit-and-run incidents earlier the same day—one near US Route 35 involving a three-car crash, and another at the Sleep Inn Hotel in Liberty Square, verified through security camera footage showing the vehicle’s license plate.
Short, who has a prior DUI conviction in Ohio, is charged with second-offense DUI, brandishing a deadly weapon, and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, including one causing injury.
