Joshua W. Harness, 31, of Crystal City has been sentenced to eight years in prison for trying to steal a car from a man in the Jefferson County portion of Pacific, according to court records.
Harness pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted robbery, and on Sept. 10, Jefferson County Div. 1 Circuit Judge Carl Wesley Yates III sentenced him to eight years in prison. That eight-year term is to be served concurrent, or at the same time, with a four-year term and a two-year term he previously was sentenced to, court papers indicate
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Tiffany S. Baker handled the case.
On April 12, 2017, Harness attempted to steal a 2012 Ford Mustang from a man in the 4200 block of Lynch Road in Pacific. Harness assaulted the victim, who he is related by marriage, hitting him with the car and also striking him in the head, face and body as the owner tried to get the keys out of the ignition and was hanging from the side of the car, the probable-cause statement said.
Eventually, the Mustang rolled off the left side of the driveway and pinned the victim’s leg between a brick retaining wall and the car. Harness fled from the scene without helping the man, whose leg had deep lacerations, exposing the bone on his left ankle and knee, the report said.
Harness was previously sentenced to four years for felony stealing stemming from a March 2013 incident in Franklin County and to two years for felony possession of a controlled substance tied to a June 2016 incident in Jefferson County, according to court papers.
Harness currently is in the Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston.