MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The former Harrison County Sheriff’s deputy charged in a 2017 road rage incident caught on camera has a plea hearing scheduled Thursday afternoon.
William Sothen, 63, of Salem, was charged with misdemeanor battery following a viral video that appeared to show the retired deputy placing his hands on another motorist and bringing her to the ground. Sothen retired from the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department Jan. 2017.
The incident occurred on Van Voorhis Road in Morgantown, inside the jurisdiction of Morgantown Police. Chief Ed Preston said the road rage had begun several minutes before the video begins, outside of Morgantown, before the conclusion occurred on Van Voorhis Road.
The altercation did not end until an off-duty WVU police officer exited his vehicle and broke up the fight. The woman in the video was a 21-year-old Harrison County resident.