Cambridge Man Held in Robbery
By BETHANY A. ROMANEK and GABE WELLSArticle Photos
WHEELING - All the ingredients for disaster - a gun, drugs and excessive speed - were there as police pursued and arrested Martin Kiggans on Friday, but no one was hurt in the high-speed chase.
The pursuit that ended in Warwood with the arrest of Kiggans, 44, of Cambridge, Ohio, began in St. Clairsville as an apparent armed robbery. Police arrested him about 9:30 a.m. in the 2200 block of Warwood Avenue after what initially was reported as an armed robbery at the Kmart pharmacy in the Ohio Valley Mall.
After being pursued along Interstate 70 in Belmont County, Wheeling police Sgt. Mike Anderson said, Kiggans crossed the Fort Henry Bridge into downtown Wheeling. The suspect then led police from North Wheeling to Warwood. The Clearview Police Department set up road spikes, but when the suspect saw police lights there, he pulled over and was arrested.
Belmont County Sheriff Fred Thompson said the suspect entered the Kmart pharmacy shortly after 9 a.m. and flashed what appeared to be a .45-caliber handgun. He said it was later found to be a BB or pellet gun. The suspect stole pills from the pharmacy, but the sheriff did not know what kind or exactly how many.
The suspect claimed to have taken 10 40-milligram pills of the prescription drug Oxycontin. The Wheeling Fire Department was called to the scene and transported Kiggans to an undisclosed hospital for medical treatment. Police said he would then be taken to the Northern Regional Jail.
"I don't know what his motive was at this time," Anderson said. "This is pretty wild for a Friday morning."
Because the pursuit went directly past Corpus Christi School, officials from the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston notified Principal Dick Taylor. Since the school is secured throughout the day, Taylor said there was no need to make an announcement or let the students know about the chase. He also said all of the students were in the building and are not permitted outside until a noon recess.
"We were called by the Diocesan schools office to tell us what was going on, and we were fine no problems," Taylor said. "We are always locked in with a security and alarm system, so they were perfectly fine and safe. We went on about our day as usual. ... I didn't have to go into a 'lock down mode.' There was no need for that."
At press time Friday, Ohio officials were obtaining warrants in the case, while Wheeling police were expected to file fugitive from justice charges against Kiggans, according to a news release.
|
zookeeper
|
|
|---|---|
|
09-22-08 6:53 PM
|
There aren't any drug dealers left on 14th Street! Every now and then there is that one guy though.
|
|
Katabatic
|
|
|
09-22-08 12:59 PM
|
Quasar, I'm just happy that Wheeling Police arrested SOMEBODY. Now about those drug dealers on 14th Street.............
|
|
Quasar
|
|
|
09-20-08 12:55 PM
|
Katabatic......Be glad you live in a community where this is news...if you lived in Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, New York, Chicago, etc, etc., the news would be if it didn't happen five or six times a day in your neighborhood.
|
|
Katabatic
|
|
|
09-20-08 10:30 AM
|
Three articles about one robbery arrest in Wheeling ? Gimme a break.........of course, in Wheeling, maybe this IS big news.
|