WILLIAMSON - A local man is facing a life sentence after being arrested for allegedly robbing and beating a Williamson man.

Williamson Police Lt. C.D. Rockel said the crime took place Saturday night when Bobby Bowman was walking on Pritchard Street.

Another person was walking with Bowman when Joshua Raymond Varney, 24, appeared, picked up a rock and threw in through the windshield of a parked car.

“At that point, Bowman tried to distance himself from the suspect and cut through an alleyway,” Rckel said. “A short time later, Varney ran up behind Bowman, grabbed him and threw him to the ground. He then starting beating him in the head with a semi-automatic weapon and kicking him in the ribs.”

Lt. Rockel said Varney took Bowman’s wallet and his cellular phone. The wallet contained $4.700, which included Bowman’s income tax refund.

Varney allegedly put the gun to Bowman’s head, pulling the trigger four times, but the gun did not fire, at which point Varney threatened to cut Bowman’s throat.

The assault rendered Bowman unconscious, Rockel said. When he recovered, he went to STAT Ambulance Service, and authorities were notified.

Bowman spotted Varney the next morning at a local convenience store and came to the Williamson Police Station and notified policemen, who found him in the city. When he was taken into custody, he had a loaded handgun on his person, Rockel said.

Varney was charged with first degree armed robbery, grand larceny, and carrying a concealed weapon. He was video-arraigned Wednesday by Circuit Court Judge Michael Thornsbury who denied him bond on the robbery charge.

DNR officers Terry Ballard and L.K. Rockel, Patrolman B.W. Gibson and West Virginia State Police Cpl. S.T. Harper and B.R. Moore also assisted Rockel in the investigation.

Varney was being held in Southwestern Regional Jail in Holden at presstime.