BOONE COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) — Authorities are investigating a high-value theft after two men allegedly attempted to steal property from the Lexington Coal Company’s Twilight Surface Mine on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Deputies said the suspects, driving a black Ford Fusion, were spotted taking items from the mine’s warehouse before fleeing along Blue Pennant Road. The car struck a coal truck, and the two men ran from the scene on foot.
Inside the vehicle, officers found a wallet containing a West Virginia Division of Corrections & Rehabilitation inmate card and a debit card belonging to Travis Wayne Santonio. They also discovered hand tools and copper allegedly stolen from a maintenance truck and transformers.
A mine superintendent estimated damages at $120,000, saying the transformers were destroyed during the theft. The investigation remains ongoing.
