W.Va. rejects attorney's request to get records, video of I-81 death of Hagerstown man

Saying she's grown weary of receiving no information about the incident, a Hagerstown woman said her family has retained an attorney to investigate the death of her brother-in-law in a February confrontation with West Virginia State Police on Interstate 81 that's now drawing the scrutiny of West Virginia's governor.

Gov. Jim Justice last week called for a sweeping investigation of West Virginia State Police after revealing various allegations of wrongdoing, including an unspecified "loss of life" on I-81 in Berkeley County. Justice said in a news briefing that he viewed video of the incident and added it is "very, very concerning."

It appears to be the same Feb. 12 incident The Herald-Mail reported in which Eddie Exline, 44, of Hagerstown, died after a confrontation with a trooper on I-81 about 2 1/2 miles north of the North Queen Street exit in Berkeley County.

Previously:West Virginia state police superintendent resigns amid probe

Justice, who announced the investigation following the resignation of former state police Superintendent Jan Cahill, said the probe will also look into allegations that include a state police employee placing a video camera in a women's locker room in a southern West Virginia facility and a theft of money by a trooper at a Charleston, W.Va.-area casino. In the wake of Cahill's resignation, Justice named Jack Chambers, deputy director of Capitol police, to serve as interim superintendent and to oversee the investigation.

Regarding the I-81 incident, state police said previously in a news release that the trooper who was in the confrontation with Exline responded to the North Queen Street exit around 9:15 p.m. for a person walking south on the highway.

The trooper found Exline and a brief struggle occurred. Exline, who lived on Virginia Avenue, became unresponsive and troopers were unsuccessful in reviving him at the scene, police said in a news release following the incident. Exline later died at Berkeley Medical Center.

State police said they were called to the scene for an intoxicated male walking on the interstate. But Exline's sister-in-law, Sarah Exline of Hagerstown, said previously that she finds it hard to believe her brother-in-law had been drinking. Eddie suffered from mental health issues and was afraid of consuming anything like alcohol for fear that it would complicate his condition, she said.

Exline said her brother-in-law was always afraid that authorities such as the FBI were after him, and she believes he was "definitely running from something" when he was on the interstate. Sarah Exline said Eddie had family ties to West Virginia in the past and believes that's possibly why he was in Berkeley County.

'It's been a rough couple of weeks'

In a phone interview Thursday, Sarah Exline said she and her husband, James, Eddie's brother, have not heard anything from West Virginia State Police. Exline said she's frustrated that Gov. Justice and others have been talking about the incident while she and her family haven't been told anything or received an apology.

"It's been a rough couple of weeks. My husband is not taking it very well," she said. "We don't even know what happened. I just feel like if our officers are protecting people, why are they dying in their care?"

Exline said she and her husband retained Charleston, W.Va., attorney John-Mark Atkinson to investigate Eddie's death.

Atkinson said in a phone interview that he sent a Freedom of Information Act request to state police last month requesting any video camera footage, written reports, autopsy results and "anything you can think of" regarding the Feb. 12 incident. State police declined the request due to an ongoing investigation, he said.

"We're still waiting on that information to find out exactly what happened," Atkinson said.

More:Family says man who died after police struggle on I-81 had mental illness

What is the Exline family attorney planning to do?

Since he has not received any updates from state police, Atkinson said he sent certified letters on Wednesday to Chambers' office and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's office stating that he's been retained by the Exlines to serve as a personal representative of Eddie. Atkinson said he told Chambers and Morrisey in the letters he plans to file a claim against state police over Eddie's death and requests that all evidence in the case be preserved.

"It's just a heads-up that we're going to file a lawsuit," said Atkinson.

State police in the agency's South Charleston headquarters could not be reached for comment Thursday or Friday. They have been reluctant to release details such as how the struggle began, the name of the trooper and whether the officer is on administrative leave.

John Mangalonzo, press secretary in the attorney general's office, said Friday the agency received Atkinson's letter. He could not comment more because the incident is under investigation.

Jordan Damron, director of communications in Justice's office, said he believes attorneys representing the state are going to prohibit Justice from saying anything more about what he saw in the video, given it's under investigation.

State police previously rejected Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Herald-Mail for any dash camera or body camera footage of the incident.

State police paralegal Mendi Craddock said in a Feb. 24 email that the request was being denied under an exemption in West Virginia law dealing with investigation of crimes by law enforcement and the use of records for internal purposes.

Justice said during last week's news briefing that the incident involving the video camera being placed in a women's locker room happened several years ago in a state police facility in Kanawha County, where Charleston is located. The state police employee involved later died of a heart attack. Justice said three troopers found a thumb drive connected to the video and stomped on it in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The theft of money case happened when a man playing a video game at a casino in Nitro, a town near Charleston, got up to go to the bathroom, Justice said. An envelope fell out beside the man's seat and a trooper who was nearby picked it up and kept money inside, Justice said.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Family sends West Virginia State Police claim over death of MD man