KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A Knoxville man has been convicted of felony burglary, an act prosecutors say he committed just hours after he pled guilty to a different theft, according to the Knox County District Attorney.
A press release from DA Charme Allen’s office says that Elliot Arnaz Price, 44, was found guilty of burglary, a class D felony. During the two-day trial, prosecutors told the jury that Price was caught on security camera around noon on June 27, 2022, at Dillard’s in West Town Mall. He was recorded taking a shirt from the rack and sticking it down his pants, the release states.
When a Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputy confronted him, Price still had the shirt in his pants, according to the DA’s office,
The DA said records showed Price had been trespassed from West Town Mall on a previous occasion. Not only that, but just hours before he was at the Dillard’s, the release states that Price was in General Sessions Court pleading guilty to a misdemeanor theft charge from December 2021, where he was caught cutting sensors off merchandise from Belk and was trespassed from the mall.
“Since pleading guilty to a misdemeanor did nothing to deter this criminal activity, the
sentence for a felony for this career offender certainly will,” said DA Charme Allen.
Price’s sentencing is set for April 19, but the DA’s office says because Price is a career offender, his sentence will be 12 years. Before he is eligible for parole, he will have to serve sixty percent, just over 7 years and two months, of his sentence, the release states.
The District Attorney also shared that Price has seven prior convictions in Greene County and North Carolina for charges of:
- Second Degree Kidnapping,
- Escape,
- Breaking and Entering,
- And drug trafficking charges.
