ROGERSVILLE — A Hawkins County man on parole for his part in the 2010 assault of a 99-year-old Rogersville woman during the burglary of her home is in trouble again, accused of stealing a Jeep the day after he sold it.
Johnny Kay Seals, 43, 165 Country Estates, Rogersville, was sentenced to six years in February 2011 in exchange for guilty pleas to aggravated burglary and aggravated assault charges in the 2010 beating and burglary.
According to the Tennessee Department of Corrections, Seals is currently on parole until Oct. 30, 2015.
He was arraigned last week in Hawkins County Sessions Court on one count of theft over $1,000.
The new charge stems from a complaint filed by a man who claimed he traded Seals $1,500 cash and a silver Nissan Sentra for a 1990 Jeep on Jan. 25.
The man claims that on Jan. 26 he found the Jeep missing and reported it stolen.
Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office Detective John Pruitt stated in his report that he discovered Seals had allegedly filed for a lost car title prior to selling the Jeep. During the Jan. 25 transaction, Seals allegedly gave the victim the invalid older title.
On Feb. 8, Seals allegedly attempted to purchase license plates for the Jeep and discovered it had been reported stolen.
Pruitt stated in his report that based on the statements of the victim and his wife, and after comparing handwriting samples of everyone involved with signatures on title documents, he found probable cause to charge Seals with theft over $1,000.
Seals will be back in Hawkins County Sessions Court for a preliminary hearing on the new charge on May 8.
Seals was one of three people charged in the March 9, 2010, burglary at the home of a 99-year-old Rogersville woman.
A 16-year-old who accompanied the trio during the burglary testified at their preliminary hearing that he saw Seals kick the 99-year-old woman twice while she was lying on the floor of the garage.
According to her son, the woman suffered a broken arm, bruises on her face, blood in her eye and mouth, a fractured cheekbone, fractured ribs, and bruises all over her body.
In court, the woman’s son quoted his mother as stating, “Why were they so mean to me?” and “If they’d let me call for help I was OK.”
She reportedly said they kept kicking and “they were mean to me.”
Seals’ co-defendant Ricky Lynn Davidson, 47, is also currently on parole for the same charges until April 25, 2015.
A third defendant, Sharon Jean Davidson, has completed a sentence on lesser charges.