KANAWHA COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – A confidential source revealed to 13 News that the Chief of Glasgow Police, Darrick Cox, was the 911 caller on Feb. 20 who reported that Department of Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston was driving “erratically” through Charleston’s East end.
Charleston Police announced last week that they were launching a criminal investigation into the 911 caller. They also did not confirm that Wriston was driving erratically as was originally reported. Wriston passed two field sobriety tests when Charleston Police responded to the traffic stop on February 20 around 11 p.m. He was never cited or charged with a crime.
As 13 News previously reported, Chief Cox was a longtime police officer in Belle, West Virginia in Kanawha County.
In 2007, Cox was arrested by South Charleston police and charged with domestic battery after a woman claimed he hit her in the face. Cox was then placed on administrative leave, though he was later promoted to chief of the Belle Police Department.
He was then placed on administrative leave again in 2017 after he was the subject of a federal investigation, though he was not charged with a crime.
However, around that time, Cox admitted to buying a handgun that was used in a suicide and stored in a police safe, according to Kanawha County court documents. Those documents show that Cox admitted to giving the girlfriend of the suicide victim $150 for the weapon.
He was fired from the Belle Police Department in August of 2017, a decision that Cox fought but was eventually upheld by the state Supreme Court.
Now, he is facing criticism for allegedly framing a state official.
13 News has reached out personally to Chief Cox for comment, though the department and the Mayor of Glasgow both declined to comment.
