In the last weeks of 2014, WYDaily took a look back at the year in news with overviews of stories from James City County, York County, the City of Williamsburg, York County School Division, Williamsburg-James City County Schools, high school sports and more.
But which stories had readers clicking and sharing when they first published?
Below is a listing of the 10 crime and public safety stories WYDaily published that received the most pageviews in 2014. Click here for a breakdown of WYDaily’s most read general news stories.
10. Supervisor Michael Hipple (Powhatan) was charged with destruction of property and entering property with intent to damage, both misdemeanors, in March. Hipple allegedly kicked down the door to the King & Queen County home of his wife’s high school friend, where he engaged in an argument with both the friend and his wife. Hipple was accused of damaging the door of the home, kicking over a bucket of oil on the front porch, and spinning his tires in the driveway and yard. Hipple agreed not to speak with the man whose home was damaged or break the law within the next year. If Hipple complies, the charges against him will be dropped in May 2015.
9. Over Labor Day weekend, a 40-year-old man died in a crash on Interstate 64 West near mile marker 227 in Toano, causing a 16-mile backup. Vicente Dolores Salinas-Avendano, of El Salvador, was a passenger in a Toyota Tacoma when a car cut the Tacoma off, causing the driver of the Tacoma to veer into the left shoulder then lose control. Salinas-Avendano, who was not wearing his seatbelt, was ejected from the backseat.
8. James City County Police arrested a 23-year-old man after a nine-month investigation for sexually assaulting a girl for a six-year period that began when the girl was 9 years old. Matthew Manning, who is facing felony charges of aggravated sexual battery and attempted rape, sodomy or penetration was arrested in November. Police do not believe there are additional victims.
7. Christopher Junior Thompson, now 24, was arrested for abduction charges in April after a woman said he threatened her with a gun at the Village Shops at Kingsmill then forced her to drive him to an ATM — with her two young children in the car — and withdraw money for him. While at the bank, the woman was able to indicate to another woman at the bank she needed help, but she was forced to drive away before law enforcement arrived, authorities said. He eventually left the woman’s van, and the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office was able to find and arrest him in the early morning hours the next day. Thompson has testified he does not remember the hours after the alleged abduction, including his conversation with investigators or the search of his home, but a motion from his attorney to suppress statements and interviews made with the arresting officer and other investigators was denied.
6. Ronnie Lavender Dovbish, a 19-year-old York County man, is accused of stabbing his mother to death in their home in March. Court records show Dovbish told 911 dispatchers he “did it” when he called to report the fatal stabbing of his mother, 40-year-old Heather Perkins. Dovbish also confessed to the killing after his arrest. Authorities arrived to the home on Ponsonby Drive to find Perkins dead and Dovbish outside the home, where he was immediately detained for questioning. One of the deputies noted in the criminal complaint against Dovbish that blood and “body fluids” in the residence and said Perkins’ pants were unfastened at the time she was found.
5. Samantha Julian, a 2014 Warhill High graduate and former member of both the Lions’ football and track teams, died in a car accident in West Virginia in early December. Julian and her passenger were traveling westbound on Interstate 64 in Barboursville, W. Va., when a driver going the wrong way on the interstate struck Julian’s car. Both Julian and the other driver were pronounced dead at the scene. Julian’s passenger, Juventino Ramirez of Guatemala, died shortly after his arrival to a nearby hospital.
4. Four men were arrested in late September in connection with a series of vehicle break-ins throughout James City County: 20-year-old Aaron Scott Lee, 19-year-old Austin Peterson, 20-year-old David Charles Brice Hartman and 18-year-old Christian Nick Bearisto. A fifth man, 21-year-old Terrence Terrell White, was arrested in early October in connection with the thefts. The five suspects are accused of breaking into vehicles in the neighborhoods of Scott’s Pond, Kingsmill, St. George’s Hundred, Stonehouse, Greensprings West, Windsor Forest, Williamsburg West, Settler’s Mill, Great Woods, Wellington, Fenwick Hills and Graylin Woods, and stealing items that include cash, jewelry and firearms. So far, three of the five men have had their cases forwarded to the grand jury, where it will be decided whether they go to trial.
3. A College of William & Mary freshman who redshirted for the football team was accused of selling LSD to other Tribe athletes in February. Samuel Marshall, 19, confessed to investigators he sold LSD to four athletes and at least three other students then provided their names. A witness named Marshall, who has since been banned from the campus, as the dealer who sold to a person who overdosed on LSD. During Marshall’s bond hearing, his attorney said Marshall confessed to investigators because he was concerned the drugs could cause more harm to the other students who bought from him. Several of the initial charges against Marshall have been dropped, though three drug charges remain. His trial is scheduled for Jan. 26.
2. A Warhill High student, 17-year-old “Case” Hendrik Kees Van Leliveld, died in a car accident on News Road in January. Van Leliveld was traveling west on News Road near Centerville Road when his 2008 Volkswagen Jett drifted off the road for an unknown reason, investigators said. He then overcorrected, swerving back onto the road and across the center line, where he struck a 2007 Toyota Rav4 head on and was ejected from his car.
1. The T.J. Maxx in James City County was evacuated in January after a woman ran through the store screaming the store would blow up in 29 seconds. Earlier, the woman, later identified as 26-year-old Jessica Ann Ray, had been babysitting an infant, 5-year-old and 6-year-old. Ray left the 5- and 6-year-old children in Burger King, located in the same shopping center as the T.J. Maxx, bringing the infant into the nearby parking lot of Martin’s grocery store where a witness saw her place the infant against a tire underneath a delivery van. The witness confronted Ray, then picked up the child beneath the tire, prevented her from taking the infant from him and called 911. Ray then ran to the T.J. Maxx, where she claimed a bomb would soon explode and began climbing the shelves. Ray, who had taken several Ambien pills and consumed alcohol in the hours leading up to the incident, pleaded guilty to the incident in May. She was sentenced to 10 years, with all but time served suspended.
