Cars vandalized at popular lake

JACKSON COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A weekend at the lake took a disappointing turn for Ronnie Roush and his friend.

“It’s unbelievable, really,” Roush said. “You just have to shake your head. It makes you mad.”

He and his buddy headed out to Woodrum Lake in Kenna early Saturday morning to catch some muskie. When they got back to their car, they were in for quite a shock.

“I’ve heard rumors before from the past, but I thought all of that was over with, but apparently not,” Roush said.

Both of their vehicles had been ransacked. Broken windows, shattered glass, a missing battery, stolen tools, wheels and tires and even lug nuts were gone.

“When we walked up there, my right rear door passenger door was open,” Roush said. “I don’t know if we scared them when we came up and they took off or what, but whatever happened, happened between when the last guy left and the time we pulled in the dock, which may have been an hour.”

West Virginia State Police came to the scene to take a report on the thousands of dollars in damage, but the real damage was already done.

“I doubt I’ll ever go back over there,” he said. “I’ll fish other lakes, but I’ll be picky about where I go because of parking.”

The Jackson County Sheriff says unfortunately incidents like that are common near the lake because of its rural and remote location. They say it’s become a high-crime zone.

Roush tells WSAZ he won’t ever make a valuable and costly mistake like this again, because much like the fish he was catching, these vandals are slimy.

“They’re slick. I mean, they’re fast and they’re slick and they know what they’re doing,” Roush said. “If you go there, you’re taking a chance.”

We reached out to WVSP for more details regarding their investigation but have yet to hear back. A social media post about the incident has garnered more than 1,000 shares.

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