POLICE CHIEF FIRED Winfield Police Chief Terminated
Reported by: Kristin Keeling
Web Producer: Kristin Keeling
Reported: Feb. 8, 2012 6:18 PM EST
Updated: Feb. 8, 2012 6:35 PM EST
Eyewitness News Photo
Winfield
, Putnam County
, West Virginia
The Winfield Police Chief has been fired, but why he was terminated remains a mystery.
Harrison Lucas' termination comes after 10 years of service in Winfield.
Eyewitness News spoke to Winfield Mayor Randy Barrett who says it's a personnel matter. Mayor Barrett says he gave Lucas a chance to do something when he first came into office, but that was not fulfilled. He says there were a number of reasons for the firing.
The termination comes just one week after Lucas' 18-year old son, Payton, posted inflammatory comments on his Facebook page about the death of Hurricane High student Jacob Ball. Jacob was hit and killed by a train.
In those posts, Payton called Jacob "stupid" for getting hit by the train and said no one liked him. Those comments infuriated a lot of people and some think it could have played a part in why Chief Lucas was fired.
"I've heard stories that the chief's son has done other things in the past, so that was not a surprise when I heard it was him. But it's just a tragic situation and an awful, poor reflection on a lot of people in Winfield," said Putnam County resident, Michel Moffatt.
"I think we ought to know why he got pulled out of office and give us an explanation on what's goin' on about it," said Putnam resident, George Williams.
Eyewitness News tried to talk to Lucas to get his side of the story. He refused to go on camera and said, "I enjoyed working for Winfield for ten years".
Mayor Barrett says he's waiting to address town council next Tuesday before he released details about Lucas' termination.
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Kristin Keeling
