Dec. 19—princeton — A $100,000 bond remained in place Wednesday for a Bluefield man who told police that he thought cannibals were chasing him when he fired gunshots towards the officers.
Ronald Sardon, 61, of Bluefield was brought before Magistrate Mike Flanigan for a bond hearing and a preliminary hearing.
Sardon has been charged with four counts of attempted murder, nine counts of wanton endangerment, use or presentation of a firearm during the commission of a felony, assault of government representatives, health care providers, utility workers or law enforcement and destruction of property, said Detective Kevin Ross of the Bluefield Police Department.
The case started Dec. 5 when officers with the Bluefield Police Department were dispatched to the area around Wilson Street and Brown Street after gunshots were reported, Ross said in the criminal complaint. The caller, a Wilson Street resident, contacted Mercer 911 again and they believed a bullet had hit their house. Officers heard a gunshot when they arrived, but were unable to tell where it came from. A Brown Street resident said she heard five shots and pointed to the northeast.
Sardon told officers that he had been in the woods for two days and that he was being chased by cannibals, Ross said in the criminal complaint. He was taken to the WVU Medicine facility in Bluefield for treatment.
Sardon said that he had a .40-caliber firearm and “then continued to state that he was shooting at the officers that had responded to the shots fired call,” Ross said in the report. “Mr. Sardon also provided us with a statement saying that he could see the police the entire time and that he was shooting at the police.”
On Dec. 6, K-9 Handler Lt. B.W. Copenhaver and K-9 Thor searched the shooting area and found the handgun, Ross said.
During the bond hearing Wednesday, attorney Natalie Hager, who is representing Sardon, asked the court to reduce her client’s bond. Sardon recently became homeless, she said.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Anthony Heltzel said the state objected to reducing the bond. Since Sardon was homeless, it would be difficult for him to appear in court.
Magistrate Flanigan denied the motion to reduce Sardon’s bond.
Sardon was scheduled for a preliminary hearing, but Hager moved that this hearing be postponed for 60 days so he could undergo a competency evaluation. This motion was granted.
Sardon is being held at the Southern Regional Jail on a $100,000 cash-only bond.
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com