Lawsuits claim false arrests by Mountain Valley Pipeline’s security company
Craig County VA December 16 2018
Two Craig County residents are suing the security company working for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, claiming they were falsely accused of trespassing on a construction right of way.
The charges against Nan Gray and Gordon Jones were dropped after police and prosecutors found no evidence to support them, according to the two lawsuits. Gray and Jones are each seeking $4 million in damages from Global Security, one of its employees and Mountain Valley.
While interactions between pipeline observers and the company’s security officers have sometimes been tense since construction began earlier this year, the malicious prosecution lawsuits are believed to be the first of their kind related to the project filed in Virginia.
On Aug. 24, Gray, Jones and a third person went to visit a cemetery in Craig County that is adjacent to a right of way Mountain Valley is using to build a natural gas pipeline through the New River and Roanoke valleys.
They had the permission of the landowner and planned to pay their respects to a friend buried in the cemetery and observe the pipeline work nearby.
The lawsuit makes the following allegations of what happened next:
Traveling in two vehicles, the trio found an access road to their destination blocked by a pickup truck apparently involved with construction, so they took a second route that led them to the edge of the construction area.
There, Mountain Valley officials instructed them to park next to a bulldozer, which was in the road on the other side of the right of way, and continue on foot to the cemetery.
When they returned, Gray and Jones learned that construction workers had told Timothy Vaughn, an employee of Global Security, that their Jeep and truck were parked in an active work zone.
At the time, a stop-work order issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission allowed only erosion-control activities to take place along the pipeline route.
State police were called to the scene. A trooper decided not to file charges after learning that Gray and Jones had permission to visit the cemetery and had parked as instructed on the right of way, which was not posted with “no trespassing” signs.
But after consulting with Global Security and Mountain Valley officials, Vaughn pursued charges on his own. After two magistrates declined to issue arrest warrants, Vaughn successfully approached a third one three days later with a written complaint.
The complaint stated that Gray and Jones were in a work zone, but made no mention of the lack of “no trespassing” signs.
When the case went to court in November, the charges were dropped at the request of the Craig County commonwealth’s attorney.
Filed last week in Giles County Circuit Court, the lawsuits accuse Global Security and Mountain Valley of conspiring to file charges with “malice, ill will and a conscious disregard” for Gray and Jones.
The civil actions were filed by Roanoke attorney John Fishwick, who also represented the two on their criminal charges.
Representatives for Global Security and Mountain Valley did not respond to requests for comments on the lawsuits.
Roanoke.com
