Defendant Pleads Guilty, Leaves Court, and Commits a New Offense

Prosecutors in DA Charme Allen’s Career Gang Unit obtained a conviction against a man with seven prior felonies who committed a new offense hours after pleading guilty to a prior offense.  Elliot Arnaz Price, 44, was found guilty of Burglary.  Judge Hector Sanchez set the case for sentencing on April 19 where Price faces twelve years in prison.

In a two-day trial, Assistant District Attorneys TaKisha Fitzgerald and Sean Bright explained to the jury that around noon on June 27, 2022, Price was at Dillard’s in West Town Mall when he was caught on security cameras taking a shirt off the rack and sticking it down his pants.  Officer Glenn Martin with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office confronted Price who still had the shirt in his pants.  Records showed that Price had been trespassed from West Town Mall on a previous occasion.  In fact, hours prior to committing this offense, Price was in General Sessions Court pleading guilty to a misdemeanor theft charge from Belk that he committed in December 2021 where he was caught cutting sensors off merchandise and 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. 

Burglary is a Class D felony.  Because Price is a Career Offender, his sentence is twelve years, and he must serve sixty percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.  Price has seven prior convictions out of Greene County and North Carolina for Second Degree Kidnapping, Escape, Breaking and Entering, and drug trafficking charges.  Assistant Victim Witness Coordinator Madison Keel aided in the prosecution of this case.

If you have any questions, please contact Sean McDermott at 865-215-2515 or Sean.McDermott@knoxcounty.org. For more information about the District Attorney’s Office, visit our website at dag.knoxcountytn.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.