BARBOURSVILLE, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A dramatic and dangerous altercation unfolded Monday evening, April 7, 2025, in the parking lot of Dunkin’ Donuts and Exxon off U.S. Route 60, when deputies attempted to serve an arrest warrant for domestic battery on 32-year-old Donald Ray Davis II.
The situation escalated quickly around 7:00 p.m., when Deputy Woodrum confronted Davis in a white passenger vehicle. As Davis resisted arrest and attempted to flee, another deputy arrived on the scene and observed an active struggle taking place. When Davis tried to put the vehicle in drive, deputies acted fast—delivering strikes in an attempt to subdue him and deploying a TASER, which ultimately malfunctioned.
Despite their efforts, Davis managed to get the car in gear, crashing into the responding deputy’s cruiser, then reversing and striking Deputy Woodrum with the car door. The deputy, partially inside the vehicle during the chaos, narrowly avoided being run over.
Covered in Davis’s blood from the struggle, deputies initiated a manhunt after Davis fled westbound on Route 60. The suspect recklessly tore through Linman Circle—where children were reportedly playing—and into surrounding rural roads, alarming local residents. Witnesses along Wildcat Road pointed deputies and state troopers in the direction Davis had gone, but hours of searching, even with a thermal drone from Hurricane Police Department, initially yielded no results.
Eventually, a breakthrough came when Cabell County 911 received a tip that a bloody man—matching Davis’s description—was knocking on doors along Blue Sulphur Road claiming he’d been in a car crash. Minutes later, Davis was spotted walking south on the same road and was taken into custody without incident by West Virginia State Police.
He was evaluated by EMS for injuries before being transported to Western Regional Jail on the original domestic battery warrant. In addition to that charge, Davis now faces a long list of new felonies, including:
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Two counts of Battery on a Police Officer
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Two counts of Obstructing an Officer
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Felony Destruction of Property
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Leaving the Scene Causing Property Damage
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Fleeing in a Vehicle Causing Property Damage
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Fleeing in a Vehicle with Reckless Disregard for the Safety of Others
Authorities say the deputy involved will seek medical evaluation due to blood exposure during the incident.
