Ferreira

BUCKHANNON — An Upshur County man faces felony charges after allegedly participating in an armed robbery of $12,000 from a Buckhannon resident in April.

Bruno Martins Ferreira, 33, is charged with robbery and conspiracy, both felonies. He is currently being held at Tygart Valley Regional Jail with no bond.

According to the criminal complaint, filed by Trooper C.C. Jones with the West Virginia State Police, on April 12, Jones received a call in reference to a robbery. During an interview, the alleged victim told Jones that three male subjects had cornered him in the garage of a residence on Brushy Fork Road. The three male subjects were identified as Ferreira, Gione De Jesus Azevedo and Joao Batista Da Fonseca.

The alleged victim told Jones the three male subjects said he could not leave the garage “unless they received money,” the complaint states. Da Fonseca was allegedly wielding a butcher’s knife, Azevedo had a “long metal bolt” and Ferreira was blocking the alleged victim’s exit and “preventing him from leaving.”

Jones writes that the alleged victim “was forced” to open his bank account on his phone and conduct two money transfers, one for $2,000 and the second for $10,000.

According to the complaint, Azevedo also allegedly took various tools, equipment and $100 from the alleged victim’s truck before he, Ferreira and Da Fonseca left the residence at the completion of the money transfers.

Azevedo is charged with first-degree robbery with threat of deadly force with a weapon and conspiracy against the state, both felonies. He is currently being held at Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a $150,000 cash-only bond.

Azevedo, according to the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation website, has also been placed on detainer, or hold, by U.S. Immigration.