Man allegedly provided weapons to youths

Charged with possession of firearms by prohibited person

PARKERSBURG -- One person was arrested over the weekend after allegedly providing guns to a group of youth involved in a dispute.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Wood County Magistrate Court, Zachary Eugene Hagar, 20, of 2025 Robinson Hill Road, Marietta, was charged Sunday with one felony count of prohibited person in possession of a firearm following an early morning traffic stop. His bond was set at $10,000.

Hagar was a passenger with five juveniles and an 18-year-old man in a Jeep Grand Cherokee pulled over by a Wood County deputy sheriff for an alleged equipment violation at 3:51 a.m. Sunday, the complaint says. Deputies conducting an inventory of the vehicle recovered a .22-caliber, semiautomatic rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun belonging to Hagar, who was convicted in Washington County of third-degree felony sexual battery and fourth-degree felony gross sexual imposition, according to the complaint.

West Virginia law prohibits someone from possessing a firearm if the individual has been convicted of a felony violent crime or sexual offense.

The inventory was conducted after the decision was made to tow the vehicle because neither the 16-year-old behind the wheel nor the 18-year-old who said he owned the vehicle had valid insurance, the complaint says. Deputies also recovered "a plastic toy pistol which appeared to be real at first glance" and "two red and white bandanas which appeared to be gang symbols," it says.

Further investigation revealed Hagar provided the guns to the group because the 18-year-old "had some type of dispute with another group of persons who were also in possession of a firearm," the complaint says.

Chief Sheriff's Deputy Robert Sims said Hagar is the only one that has been charged so far in the incident, which remains under investigation.

Asked about the items that were noted as possible gang symbols, Sims said gang activity does happen in the area but not on the scale of larger urban locations.

"Is there activity? Yes," he said. "Is there overt conflict? No."