UPDATE (8:01 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24): Jackson County Sheriff Ross Mellinger released a statement on Facebook in response to a West Virginia State Police trooper being arrested on battery and strangulation charges.

Even though WVSP said in a press release earlier on Friday evening that Joseph Comer had turned himself into the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Mellinger says that the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department is not involved in the investigation.

Let’s make something very clear, as various media outlets are being spoonfed some agenda-driven information this evening. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office had absolutely ZERO participation in any criminal investigation involving any member of the WV State Police today. This case is NOT ours, nor do we support any such case. We have nothing in this investigation nor will we in the future. This is entirely a State Police deal.

Sheriff RH Mellinger

JACKSON COUNTY, WV (WOWK)—A current member of the West Virginia State Police was arrested on Friday.

WVSP says that Joseph Comer turned himself in to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

Comer is charged with domestic battery and felony strangulation.

He was arraigned in Jackson County Magistrate Court, and he is currently out on a $30,000 bond.