An Augusta County sheriff’s deputy was arrested on Wednesday on malicious wounding and assault and battery charges stemming from the Sept. 29 arrest of a wanted Gordonsville man that ended up putting the subject in the hospital.
Sgt. William Mikolay faces a felony charge for malicious wounding and a misdemeanor assault and battery charge, according to a release from Augusta County Sheriff Donald Smith on Thursday.
Conviction on a malicious wounding charge carries possible exposure to a prison term of five to twenty years and a $100,000 fine.
Mikolay, we now know, from Smith’s release on his arrest, was among those involved in the arrest of Adam Ryan Martin, 38, who at the time of the Sept. 29 arrest was wanted on a fentanyl possession charge in Fluvanna County.
An Oct. 23 report in the Daily Progress detailed that Martin’s personal history with legal problems dates back to 2005, with an arrest for burglary and grand larceny in Fluvanna County. Martin was convicted of both charges, according to the Progress report, and he has spent the past 18 years in and out of jails with a rap sheet that includes charges for unlawful wounding and receiving stolen property as well as six probation violations.
This is the backdrop for the events of the early-morning hours of Sept. 29.
According to a report published the day of the arrest in Augusta Free Press, which was based on a report shared with us by the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office, Martin had come to the attention of authorities in Augusta County at approximately 3:30 a.m. the morning of Sept. 29.
An unnamed deputy on routine patrol, according to that day’s reporting, spotted a black Infinity that matched the description of a vehicle that had been involved in multiple pursuits with the Virginia State Police and other law enforcement agencies over the preceding past several weeks.
The deputy ran the registration of the vehicle, and the tags did not match the vehicle type, so an attempt was made to get the driver to stop the vehicle, but Martin, the driver, refused to stop.
Martin would eventually drive the vehicle onto Interstate 64 apparently headed to Albemarle County, so the Augusta County deputy in pursuit alerted Albemarle County Police that Martin was coming their way.
Officers there deployed tired deflation devices in an effort to stop the vehicle, and Martin, after driving over the deflation devices and losing his tires, continued on Dudley Mountain Road at reduced speeds, eventually losing control and crashing into an embankment at the intersection with Red Hill Road.
According to the Sept. 29 AFP report, Martin exited the vehicle after the crash and ran away on foot, with an Augusta County deputy in pursuit.
When the deputy got within reach of the suspect, according to the report, Martin turned on the deputy and took a fighting stance, leading to a physical altercation that ended with Martin being taken into custody.
The reporting from Sept. 29 ended with the note that Martin had to be transported to the University of Virginia Medical Center and was hospitalized there for treatment of his injuries, which were not detailed to us at the time, and the extent of which is still unknown today.
The role that Mikolay played in the arrest and what transpired in the course of things that resulted in Martin being sent to the hospital is also still unclear at this moment.
What we do know today, from Smith’s release, is that the decision to arrest Mikolay came from the Albemarle County Attorney’s Office, after that office was presented the results of an independent investigation conducted by the Virginia State Police.
Smith, through his release, deferred questions on the State Police investigation to the state agency.
We actually had already reached out to the media contact for the VSP to inquire about the investigation on Wednesday evening upon learning of the arrest of Mikolay, ahead of the confirmation from Smith a day later.
We have yet to hear back from the State Police on our inquiry, we assume because of the Thanksgiving holiday interrupting normal agency operations.
We know from Smith’s release that Mikolay was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond after his arrest, and that the sheriff has placed Mikolay on paid administrative leave while the criminal matter is pending trial.
“Sgt. Mikolay was charged at the direction of the Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney. The criminal justice arena will now review the facts surrounding both sides of this case,” Smith said in a statement in the release.
That’s the message to the public. An email from Smith to employees in the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office on the arrest of Mikolay obtained by AFP on Wednesday presents a very different line of thought on the matter from Smith.
“I would like to be clear how I feel about this situation. I truly believe the involved deputies’ version of what occurred that night,” Smith wrote in the email. “I support Sgt. Mikolay 110%, and want our office to stick together throughout this difficult situation.”
That would explain the decision by Smith to place the deputy on paid administrative leave.
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Chris Graham
