Intimidation charge filed against woman

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A Marietta woman is free on $15,000 bond after being charged Tuesday with intimidation of a witness.

Agents of the Washington County Major Crimes Task Force arrested Tiffany A. Shank, 41, of 1145 Bender Road, on the third-degree felony charge after she was accused of making 89 phone calls to a Lowell resident. Police say Shank also sent text messages over the past weekend to him, stating, "You are a rat, everyone will be told, Monday will be your hell."

Police said the message was accompanied by pictures of the man's home and vehicle.

According to court records, the man is a witness in a case against Ola "Bunk" V. Nichols Jr., 58, of Davisville, W.Va., who was arrested last week on charges of trafficking in drugs.

Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks described Shank as an associate of Nichols and said no narcotics charges are currently anticipated against her.

Officers recently arrested Nichols after a controlled drug buy by a confidential informant. Deputies stopped Nichols' vehicle and recovered the $4,120 which the informant allegedly paid for 650 10-milligram methadone pills.

After a search warrant was executed on Nichols' residence by members of the Parkersburg Narcotics Task Force, six plastic bags containing marijuana, as well as several cigarettes rolled with marijuana, were recovered, according to the release.

"We're working on both sides of the river on that case, and we do feel that in the future there will be more arrests made," Mincks said.

The task forces continue to try to identify the source of the drugs, the sheriff said.

The Major Crimes Task Force is made up of representatives from law enforcement agencies in Washington and Morgan counties. The Parkersburg task force consists of officers from the Wood County Sheriff's Department, Parkersburg and Vienna, W.Va., police departments and the West Virginia State Police.