A Texas man Larry Pearson will spend 70 years behind bars after spitting on police officers during his arrest last year, according to multiple reports.
Larry Pearson, 36, was sentenced on April 12 after being found guilty of two counts of harassment of a public servant, KLBK News first reported. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal also confirmed the sentence.
Larry Pearson was arrested for domestic assault in May 2022 after a woman flagged down an officer in Lubbock, Texas, Prosecutor Jessica Gorman told the outlet. The woman claimed Pearson hit her multiple times, and that he had a firearm – which later turned out to be an airsoft gun.
According to the outlet, citing authorities, after Pearson was taken into custody, he reportedly got upset that the woman wasn’t arrested instead of him, and began kicking at the doors of the cop car.
When two officers opened the car door and ordered Pearson to stop, the prosecutor said he spit at both of them and continued to do so until they arrived at the Lubbock County Detention Center, the outlet reports.
During the trial’s closing arguments, Prosecutor Gorman reportedly asked the jury to consider a sentence she deemed would “send a message,” noting that Pearson was previously convicted of aggravated robbery and continuous family violence, according to KLBK News.
As a result, Pearson could have received a minimum sentence of 25 years in prison, the outlet added.
On the contrary, Defense Attorney Jim Shaw told the jury the sentencing was for a “simple misdemeanour” in a circumstance that got “out of control,” the outlet reports.