BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
PILGRIM — A Martin County man faces multiple felony charges after a woman’s urgent 911 report of a violent domestic assault Nov. 29 on Frog Pond Road in Pilgrim.
Dispatchers told Kentucky State Police Post 9 that the female caller could be heard saying, “Stop beating me,” followed by a male voice saying, “I would if you would stop being a [explicit].” The caller also reported “blood everywhere” inside the residence.
A Martin County Sheriff’s deputy and a constable arrived at the residence before troopers and found no response at the door. They located a purse outside the home believed to belong to the caller.
When troopers arrived they discovered blood, beer cans and debris scattered across the floor. No one was home.
Shortly afterward, the West Virginia State Police notified the deputy saying they had detained the male suspect at the Kentucky–West Virginia line.
Troopers responded to the state line in Warfield and found both the suspect, Dwayne David Collins, 55, of Pilgrim, and the female.
Collins denied any altercation, telling officers the blood in the home came from coons he had killed while hunting the previous night and brought into the house.
The woman provided a different account. She told officers Collins had been drinking and became verbally abusive before the violence escalated. She reported that Collins hit her with a jar of honey, a skillet and his fist, leaving her with a cut on her face and blood on her legs and arms. Officers observed a sticky substance consistent with honey on her leg, corroborating her statement.
The woman said Collins forced her to drive him to West Virginia after she contacted law enforcement. When she resisted, she said, he struck the driver’s side windshield with his cane until she complied. After arriving at a gas station near the state line, Collins allegedly smashed the front windshield. The female said Collins demanded she take him to the gas station to buy more beer.
Troopers arrested Collins on charges of first-degree unlawful imprisonment, second-degree assault (domestic violence), first-degree disorderly conduct, and alcohol intoxication in a public place (third or more offense within 12 months).
He remains in jail at the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center on a $10,000 bond.