Police: Holmes fought with officers

Andy Holmes, the mayor of Coal Grove, was arrested by the Ironton Police Department on Saturday morning on three charges, including operating a vehicle while intoxicated, felony resisting arrest and felony assault. He was taken to the Lawrence County Jail and was released on Saturday.

According to a report from the Ironton Police Department, officers found Holmes at his home and he was stunned three times while fighting the police officers, before being arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

The case began just after Friday midnight when a report of a hit-skip accident in the 3600 block of South Third St.

Officers found a sedan with “significant” rear end damage on Third Street in Ironton and a woman standing beside it. They also found several parts of a GMC along the roadway. One officers stayed at the site of the crash and the other went to search for the GMC.

Dispatch told officers that a black GMC truck fitting the description was headed toward Coal Grove.

Dispatch called to tell the officer that OnStar had reported a crash in the area and gave the information of the vehicle involved, which was used to get an address, which was Holmes’ address in Coal Grove. An officer found a black 2023 GMC Yukon with “severe” damage to the front end at house. Because of the damage, the officer was concerned about the welfare of the driver and called for an additional officer to help locate the driver.

The officers knocked on the door of the residence and were greeted by a woman. Police said she called out for “an individual later identified as James Andrew “Andy” Holmes.”

It was at that time a Coal Grove officer arrived on the scene.

The officers asked to come in and the woman let them in the house. Officers asked if Holmes was drunk and the woman nodded her head up and down, “implying yes to the question asked,” the report said.

They found Holmes in bed and asked him about the crash and Holmes “acted as if he had no clue what we were talking about,” the report said. It was then the officers said they noticed Holmes was bleeding from his head and called for EMS.

The officers asked Holmes if he would come outside to talk about the accident and said he refused.

Holmes asked the Coal Grove officer, ‘“Who’s the rest of these guys, what department are they from?” the report said.

The officers again explained that they were from Ironton where the crash occurred. The Ironton officers asked who Holmes was and they were told that he was the mayor of Coal Grove.

The Ironton officers said that the fact that he was the mayor of Coal Grove was irrelevant, since the accident happened in Ironton.

Holmes then told the Coal Grove police officer to arrest the Ironton Police officers, before asking about the crash, the report said.

Holmes then asked if they had a warrant to be there and was told consent was given for them to enter the house.

The Ironton officers said they had enough information and could leave now and told they would be getting body cam footage from the Coal Grove Police Department and to make sure that it was not deleted, because of the pending charges.

Homes then called the officer “stupid” and “then stated ‘No, I think you’re retarded,” according to the report, which continued that Holmes aggressively got out of bed and told them to leave because they didn’t have a warrant and that they were on private property.

Officers decided to leave to de-escalate the situation, but Holmes followed them and said “get the (expletive) out of here,” according to the report.

At the door, the report said that he shoved one of the officers and grabbed his vest, at which point Holmes was told he was under arrest. The report said Holmes swung at an officer, pulled away and headed toward the kitchen.

The officers followed him to take him in custody, but Holmes continued to aggressively pull away, according to the report.

An officer pulled his Taser and stunned Holmes in the right side of his stomach and tried to handcuff him, the report said. He was stunned twice more, before he was handcuffed and put in the patrol car.

He was examined by EMS for his head wound and then was taken to the Lawrence County Jail.

At the jail, Holmes was asked to submit urine for a test. According to the police report, Holmes elbowed an officer again and told them he could not hear what they were saying as they read a form that explained the penalty for not submitting to tests. Holmes refused to sign the form or the citation for OVI and assured clear distance.

According to the report, Holmes admitted to a corrections officer that he was drinking at the Moose Lodge and “stated he believed he hit something with his ‘Yukon.’”

Holmes is scheduled to be in Ironton Municipal Court on Thursday morning.

Holmes was sworn in as mayor in 2024 and he was on the village council from 2017-2023.