Former Sheriff Candidate Arrested For Impersonating Cop, Battery On Officer

Fairplain, WV – A former candidate for Jackson County sheriff has been arrested for after he claimed he was a police officer and fought with deputies.

The incident occurred on Tuesday evening after several juveniles reported that a truck nearly ran over them as they were walking down the side of the road in the Fairplain area, WCHS reported.

The juveniles told police the truck drove off the road and the driver – later identified as 52-year-old Christopher Noel Braley – tried to hit them and they were forced to jump out of the vehicle’s path.

The police report said the juveniles followed the truck into the Rolling Meadows apartment complex and confronted Braley, WCHS reported.

Braley got aggressive, got up in the juveniles’ faces, and tried to grab one of the girl’s butts but only successfully grabbed her hip and thigh, according to the report.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said the kids told Braley they were going to call law enforcement and they said he told them he “was a cop and a deputy,” WCHS reported.

The mother of one of the girls Braley had threatened told deputies that she confronted the driver and he became aggressive.

She said he told her he had a gun and got in her face, WCHS reported.

“You wanna do something about this?” she told deputies Braley asked her.

The report said deputies arrived on the scene and found Braley appeared to be intoxicated, WCHS reported.

Braley told deputies he had a gun in his car, but then he refused to get out of the vehicle, according to the police report.

So they escorted the driver out of the vehicle, WCHS reported.

Deputies said Braley took an aggressive stance with them and they took him to the ground and put him in handcuffs.

Braley was arrested by Jackson County sheriff’s deputies, the same law enforcement agency he had previously vied to lead, WCHS reported.

He was charged with battery on a police officer and impersonating a police officer on Nov. 24.

Braley was also arrested in 2019 after a dispute with a client of his roofing business, WOWK reported.

He was charged with misdemeanor assault on that occasion, which occurred in the midst of his campaign for Jackson County sheriff.

The police report said that he identified himself as a Kanawha County sheriff’s deputy during that incident, WOWK reported.

Braley was a deputy for Kanawha County for more than 20 years before he ran for office, WCHS reported.

The 2019 arrest took place during his campaign, WOWK reported.