Area man pleads guilty in shooting incident
WAYNESBURG — A Spraggs man who was arrested last July on numerous charges after he allegedly fired a handgun at two people was sentenced to prison this week after pleading guilty to several of the counts in Greene County court.
?Ricky Ray Raber, 46, was arrested by state police on July 5, 2010 on charges of criminal attempt to commit homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault, making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment.
The charges stemmed from allegations that he fired a gun at Randy L. Yoders Jr., 21, of Spraggs and a 14-year-old boy from Fairview, W.Va.
Raber pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of simple assault before county Judge William Nalitz on Monday, the same day his jury trial was scheduled to begin.
Following his plea, Nalitz sentenced Raber to serve a total of three to 10 years in prison, including two to five years for firing at the juvenile and one to five years consecutively for shooting Yoders. Raber was also granted credit for time served.
The other charges initially filed against Raber were dropped, according to reports.
According to police, the shooting occurred between 6 and 6:45?a.m. July 5 on Blacksville Hill in Wayne Township.
Yoders and the juvenile reported they were sitting in a vehicle at the intersection of Sigbee Street, Schley Street and Funston Avenue when a bullet hit the vehicle, police said.
The bullet struck Yoders in the lower right shoulder, police said, noting that the juvenile was not injured.
Police said Yoders suffered a collapsed lung and was taken by medical helicopter to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va. He was later released.
According to the criminal complaint filed by police, Yoders told authorities at the hospital that he and the juvenile went to Raber’s house to check on him because he had not been feeling well.
He said Raber then became upset with Yoders over a “previous incident,” went into the house and came back out with a handgun and fired several times, the complaint states.
Yoders said he and the juvenile drove off but he realized that he had been struck in the lower right shoulder with what appeared to be a small caliber bullet, the complaint states.
The juvenile told police that Yoders and Raber were talking about a fight that occurred one day earlier between Yoders and Raber’s relative, Ronald Raber, and then Raber “flipped out” and said he was going to kill Yoders, according to reports.
Raber then calmed down and told them to wait a minute, and he then went into the house, came back out with the handgun and shot several times; the juvenile reported that he was sitting in the passenger seat of the car at the time of the shooting and he ducked back and laid the seat down, the complaint states.
Yoders then drifted the vehicle forward and started it, and when the juvenile sat up he saw Raber coming through the yard and aiming the gun at them, so he ducked back down; at that point, he heard Raber fire several more shots, police said.
The juvenile said he saw that Yoders had been shot and that he had to help Yoders drive the vehicle by steering the wheel and shifting the gears; they initially tried to drive to Yoders’ residence but they stopped at Bell’s Market in Blacksville, W.Va., where they called 911 for help, the complaint states.
An examination by police indicated that at least five bullet holes were found in the exterior of the vehicle, according to the complaint.