Argument ends in attack, leads to jail time

An argument between two friends resulted in one attacking the other, and now that attacker is serving time behind bars.

Elliott M. Charity, 46, of 12001 Mapsico Road in Charles City, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of unlawful wounding last Friday in Charles City Circuit Court. Charity had been indicted on a more serious count of malicious wounding in connection with an attack last Dec. 21 on Jonathan Crump.

Judge Thomas B. Hoover sentenced Charity to five years in prison with all but seven months suspended for the next five years. The defendant will be given credit for time already served.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Tyler told the court the two friends had been drinking while at Summerfield Wallace Trailer Park off Courthouse Road. Tyler said the argument grew to pushing and shoving. Crump turned to walk away, but Charity struck him with an unknown object, the prosecutor said.

Crump told investigators that after he came to, Charity walked past him and said, “I told you I was going to get you,” Tyler told the court. Crump’s wounds took 48 stitches to close. The victim also sustained fractures in the nose and cheek.

Charity’s lawyer, V.L. Major, told the court the two were arguing over money. She said her client struck Crump with his fist, whereupon Crump fell and sustained most of his injuries. Charity denied striking Crump with anything but his fist, Major said.

In another, unrelated matter last Friday, a Petersburg man must serve a mandatory one-year prison sentence for a second offense of driving after being declared a habitual offender.

Albert Arnold Thomas, 58, of 334 Poplar St., was sentenced to five years in prison with all but the mandatory one year suspended for the next 10 years. Thomas was also convicted of speeding and fined $100.

On April 17, 2007, Thomas drove away from a New Kent County job site where he was working as a painter, bound for a Petersburg hospital after learning his son had been in an auto accident. He was stopped for speeding in Charles City, and a check of his record revealed he had been placed earlier on habitual offender status.

Thomas told the court he made a bad decision to drive, but had no one else to take him to the hospital to be with his son. Hoover, however, was not convinced.

“I don’t buy that he doesn’t have a single friend, relative, or neighbor that would help him get to the hospital,” said the judge, who granted the defendant work release.

Also last Friday, sentencing for a Charles City woman convicted of felony failure to appear in court has been postponed until July so that the defendant can complete a substance abuse program.

Karen Louise Barker, 40, of 9201 Willcox Neck Road, was convicted in March. The charge is a felony since Barker failed to show for a hearing on another felony charge. That charge, unauthorized use of motor vehicle, was dropped as part of a plea deal.

The unauthorized use charge stemmed from Barker borrowing a 1999 GMC pickup from Harold Reynolds last July 14 and not returning the vehicle in a specified period of time. She was scheduled to appear in court on the charge last Oct. 18 but did not show.

Defense attorney Scott Renick said his client is halfway through the 12-week substance abuse program. Hoover, meanwhile, ordered the defendant not to have contact with Reynolds or risk having bond revoked and being placed in jail.

“I don’t want you to make a bad decision because it will affect your case for sentencing,” the judge told the defendant.

Tyler said Reynolds is also under court order not to have contact with Barker.