MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Former Berkeley County Sheriff Nathan Harmon is speaking out about the investigation and subsequent charges that led to his resignation in December.
Nathan Harmon
Harmon joined Panhandle Live on The Panhandle News Network in Martinsburg on Tuesday and said that his decision to give his daughter Carrie a breath test following her Jan. 6, 2023 car accident came in his capacity as a father and not as the sheriff.
“If I’m guilty of anything it’s guilty of being a father,” Harmon said. “The reasoning behind me giving my daughter a PBT (preliminary breath test) was because it was 20 minutes after the accident and the investigation was over. That is a completely separate incident. It didn’t happen at the accident scene. That was me trying to see if my daughter is lying.”
Harmon claims that at no point on the night of the accident did he interfere with Deputy William Henderson’s investigation of the scene.
“The moment he shut that body cam off, he was done. He had already walked the scene, took photographs, talked to people, got her statement, got the vehicle information, so he was done,” he said.
Harmon was also accused of using his office for personal gain, a charge that he said Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Catie Wilkes-Delligatti used to expedite his removal as sheriff.
“She’s never called me or interviewed me or has in any way contacted me in relation to any of those eight petitions in terms of questioning me or the validity of those things,” he said.
The prosecuting attorney had filed a petition for removal from office in November. In that petition, other allegations were brought forth beyond the initial four misdemeanor charges.
Those allegations including that the former sheriff “breached the public trust and abused his position of power, claiming he misappropriated public resources for his personal gain, used and removed government property for his personal benefit, and used subordinates for private gain.
In an attempt to conceal, mislead, deceive, and cover up both his misconduct and the activities of his daughter, Sheriff Harmon obstructed justice by making false statements to a West Virginia State Police investigator and that he used his position to secure government contracts to his private employer.
Sheriff Harmon was not indicted on the new allegations.
He tendered his letter of resignation in early December. His resignation was effective December 26th.
Harmon said his only regret stems from his interview with an investigator looking into his conduct in the aftermath of his daughter’s accident.
“In my mind when he was asking me if I did a PBT, I was under the impression he was asking me about the accident investigation, where as Deputy Henderson didn’t do one. Twenty minutes later I did one. What’s 20 minutes versus two hours? Whether it’s there, in the cemetery or at my house?” Harmon said.
While he does not know if he will run for public office again, Harmon believes that if he chose to, the people of Berkeley County would support him at the polls.
“I can run again. My wife and I are sitting down and talking about things,” he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that if I ran again, I would win.”
The full Panhandle Live interview is available on the Panhandle News Network Spotify.
