Man charged after Mercer County hit and run

MERCER COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Through a cooperative investigation involving the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department and the West Virginia State Police, Roy Charles Whittaker, a 36-year-old resident of Princeton, was arrested on October 5, 2023, for Leaving the Scene of an Accident with Serious Bodily Injury. 

On October 5, 2023, Mercer County Deputies responded to a vehicle fire at the Gardner Road and Rocky Branch Road intersection. After receiving additional information, Mercer County 911 advised the Deputies that a motorcycle was on fire and the driver was over an embankment. 

Lt. S. J. Cary, Sgt. J. D. Ellison, and Cpl. L. L. Addair arrived on the scene and assisted the Princeton Rescue Squad with extracting the driver from the woods. 

The driver was transported to Princeton Hospital and later airlifted to Charleston Area Medical Center. 

Based on their initial investigation, they determined that the motorcycle had been struck by another vehicle that had left the scene. Due to the nature of the crime, Detective-Corporal M. T. Hatfield responded to assist with the investigation. 

With the assistance of the public, Deputies located the vehicle that had fled on Rocky Branch Road and determined the driver of the vehicle was Roy Whittaker. 

Roy Whittaker was located and taken into custody. 

The lead investigators are Corporal L. L. Addair and Detective-Corporal M. T. Hatfield.