MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A WVU student and Maryland resident is accused of attacking a Morgantown Police officer while trying to enter the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Office.

On October 6 at approximately 1:35 a.m., Morgantown Police officers were transferring a prisoner to the sheriff’s office for transfer to North Central Regional Jail, according to a press release.

Chad LeClair

An officer stated that there was a man in the middle of the road who was “flipping cars off” while he was yelling. One officer saw the man strike or attempt to strike a marked police car while the car was sitting at a red light, according to a criminal complaint.

The officer driving the police car pulled into the sally port, and the man, identified as Chad LeClair, 18, of Frederick, Maryland, and a WVU student, began to walk toward the sally port, according to a criminal complaint. The second officer stated that he heard the first officer’s car door shut, at which time LeClair crouched, began backing away from the first officer, hid behind the corner of the sheriff’s office and concealed his left hand as he waited on that officer, according to a criminal complaint.

The second officer said he sent an alert via radio that the man was coming up behind the first officer, before he announced himself as a police officer and grabbed LeClair by his right wrist and left shoulder from behind, according to a criminal complaint. After telling LeClair to place his hands behind his back, LeClair replied and then placed the second officer into a choke hold, police said.

LeClair choked the officer to the extent that the officer could not breathe or speak, according to a criminal complaint. Police said LeClair then spun the officer around and began to hit the officer’s head against a wall. After LeClair and the officer got away from the wall, another officer arrived, and they had to pry and hit LeClair in the face multiple times before he would let go, according to a criminal complaint.

The officer involved in the incident received cuts, scrapes and contusions. He was treated and released by medical personnel, according to a press release.

April Kaull, WVU’s director of news with the university’s relations and communications department, stated that LeClair “is subject to the WVU Student Code of Conduct in addition to any action taken by law enforcement or the court system.”

LeClair is charged with malicious assault and strangulation. He is in North Central Regional Jail, with bail set at $250,000.