By Wendy Holdren
Register-Herald Reporter
BECKLEY — A Beckley police
officer, charged in September with domestic battery and unlawful detention
after an altercation with his former girlfriend, agreed Friday to a provisional
misdemeanor battery plea.
Cpl. Bryan Atterson’s original
charges were dropped by way of the agreement with the Wyoming County
Prosecutor’s Office.
The misdemeanor battery charge
will be dropped with prejudice after Atterson serves one year of probation,
pending no new charges are filed in the meantime.
Atterson also agreed to undergo
psychological treatment “for behavior issues” for one year.
If he does not comply with the
terms of the agreement, he must serve 60 days in jail.
The case was assigned to
Wyoming County Prosecutor Micheal Cochrane after Raleigh County Prosecuting
Attorney Kristen Keller recused herself.
Cochrane said both he and the
victim were pleased with the disposition of the case.
“This type of case we take very
serious, and we want to ensure that these crimes are dealt with accordingly,”
Cochrane said. “Given the facts in the matter, the resolution is firm but fair
under the circumstances.”
One member of the media asked
Cochrane, “Is this a slap on the wrist?”
Cochrane replied, “Absolutely
not ... It is a very serious plea. If he does not follow through with
everything that is required of him, there are very serious repercussions from
the court.”
He said his office does not
dismiss cases just because a victim requests them to do so — “We want to make
sure something is learned in this and that justice prevails. We think that’s
been accomplished.”
Atterson had no previous
criminal history, so with the assistance of the victim, Cochrane said they
decided to offer the agreement.
According to the initial
complaint filed in September, the victim stated she was in a physical
altercation with Atterson, where he restrained her against her will from
leaving the apartment.
Atterson has been a mixed
martial arts and Brazilian ju-jitsu instructor for over 10 years and the
complaint said he applied a martial arts maneuver to the victim’s arm, putting
her on the ground.
“During this act she struck her
head causing swelling and bruising on her forehead,” the complaint said.
The victim also told police
Atterson put her in a chokehold to the point where she almost passed out.
After Atterson’s arrest, he was
released on $2,500 bond.
Former police chief Tim Deems
placed Atterson on administrative leave with pay after the incident.
Current Beckley Police Chief
Lonnie Christian said his office is awaiting the official paperwork from
Magistrate Steve Massie’s office.
“We’re going to review that and
make sure he doesn’t have anything that will prevent him from conducting his
duties and we will make a determination at that time.”
Christian said a decision will
most likely be made at the first of next week.
“As long as everything looks
good, there wouldn’t be anything that would prevent him from coming back. More
than likely he will be returning back to work.”