A magistrate has issued an arrest warrant for the driver in the “rolling coal” incident that disrupted an April 5 protest rally in front of the Augusta County Courthouse in Staunton.
It literally took me swearing out a complaint and presenting evidence to the magistrate on Tuesday to get this to happen, because Staunton Police had no interest in the case.
Jeffrey Wayne Armentrout, the owner of the Staunton-based Armentrout Towing/Old Dixie Towing, was identified as the driver of the 2000 Ford F-350 with neo-Nazi insignia on the front bumper that blew a tower of smoke through a modified smokestack located in the bed of the truck, then drove at a high rate of speed and squealed tires past the rally site on West Johnson Street around 12:40 p.m. on April 5.
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Armentrout was stopped by police after a brief pursuit, but only given a verbal warning, with a police spokesperson telling us in an email on April 7 that the officer only gave Armentrout a warning “as they did not witness any reckless driving themselves.”
The spokesperson, Sgt. CD Ammons, noted in the April 7 email that the driver had been identified, “and anyone who witnessed him spinning tires can obtain a reckless driving summons on him if they want to by coming to the police department and going before the magistrate.”
This started the process toward what happened yesterday with the magistrate.
We got the ball rolling after getting the email back from Ammons on April 7, the first act being, posting an item on our AFP Facebook page asking anyone who had attended the rally, held in conjunction with more than 1,200 rallies nationwide to protest the overreach of the Trump administration, Elon Musk and DOGE, and had photos or videos of the incident to feel free to share what they had with us.
In short order, readers shared video of Armentrout driving through the scene at a high rate of speed, and photos of the suspect vehicle showing the proximity of the vehicle to rallygoers on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse.
We also heard from readers who shared more of what they knew about Armentrout and his towing business, with allegations that Armentrout is well-known to Staunton Police because the police department uses his towing service to tow cars involved in car accidents.
I was able to corroborate this relationship from online reviews of Armentrout Towing/Old Dixie Towing, which include numerous complaints from people who were forced to pay into the thousands of dollars to retrieve their vehicles.
The allegation from the tipsters is that Armentrout leverages his relationship with local law enforcement to his advantage, which could be an explanation for how he was able to get off with a warning from the April 5 incident at the rally.
Podcast: Magistrate issues arrest warrant in ‘rolling coal’ incident
Josh Knight, the engagement and communications manager for Staunton city government, confirmed in an email to AFP that Armentrout Towing/Old Dixie Towing had been a part of the city’s rotation of towing providers, but was removed from that list in October 2024, though no reason was given for the company’s removal.
One reason could be issues with licensure. The Virginia Online Case Information System has records from a Jan. 7, 2025, incident in which Armentrout was charged with operating a motor vehicle without a license and for operating as a tow truck driver without the required state licensing from the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
Both charges were ultimately dismissed, but they are the tip of the iceberg from his rap sheet, which includes charges dating back to 2018 for pointing/brandishing a weapon and malicious wounding, petit larceny and annoying phone calls, all of which were also ultimately dismissed.
The long list of alleged offenses, and the lack of repercussions, would seem to fit the narrative from our tipsters about the Staunton PD being willing to look the other way because of its relationship with Armentrout’s towing business.
Knight, the city spokeperson, countered this with the observation that “(w)hile some reports and speculation have circulated about the individuals involved, the city and police department remain committed to basing any further action on verified facts, not rumor or assumption.”
“(W)e would also note that several of those charges were, in fact, brought forward by the Staunton Police Department itself, as part of the department’s ongoing responsibility to enforce the law regardless of the individual involved,” Knight wrote in his email to us.
The email from the city government spokesperson took an odd turn toward the end, with Knight offering a defense of the neo-Nazi insignia on the bumper of Armentrout’s truck.
“It may be worth noting, ‘Iron Cross Automotive’ is an aftermarket automotive accessories manufacturer used by a range of vehicle owners and is not, in itself, an indicator of ideology,” Knight wrote in his email.
I wrote back to Knight to let him know it didn’t take long on the Google machine to find numerous online discussions of the logo and its adoption by neo-Nazis and people who sympathize with White supremacy.
I also noted to Knight that it’s odd to me that the spokesperson for the city would go out of his way to offer this defense on behalf of a person who threatened people at a protest in the city, and is now facing a charge related to that act.
Again, there’s a narrative out there in the community that the Staunton PD let this guy walk after threatening a crowded scene of political protestors because they’re on his side, and what I can add to that is, the guy wouldn’t be facing charges – that I’m sure will ultimately be dismissed, given the history of how his cases have been handled – if we hadn’t presented the issue to a magistrate.
I don’t know that the spokesperson for the city government trying to talk down the neo-Nazi logo on the truck’s bumper is the flex he thinks it was.
There’s another protest rally scheduled at the Augusta County Courthouse coming up on Saturday.
Will be interesting to see how the city handles reckless-driving incidents involving people using two-ton trucks to threaten people this time around.
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Chris Graham
