If any bailee for hire or loan of any property shall wilfully, or with gross negligence, damage or destroy the property of any person, while the same is in the custody or possession of such bailee, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction shall be fined not exceeding $100, or be imprisoned in the county jail for a term not exceeding thirty days, in the discretion of the court, and shall be liable to the owner or owners of such property for the value thereof, or the injury done to the same, in a civil action.
West Virginia Legal Code