A 45-year-old inmate accused of smashing two correctional officers’ radios last year will face trial next month.
Travis Antione Potts, of Portsmouth, is charged with two counts of destruction of property and two counts of assault on a law enforcement officer after breaking two $3,200 portable radios, according to Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court records.
If found guilty on all four counts, Potts faces up to 20 years in jail.
Potts first broke an officer’s radio on July 21, according to a criminal complaint.
On Sept. 25, Potts allegedly broke a second radio as a corrections officer was doing security checks in E block of the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail around 9 p.m., documents state.
Potts was in his cell when he reached through the tray slot and grabbed the officer’s radio, according to documents.
After keeping the radio in his cell for a few moments, Potts then threw the radio back through the tray slot, breaking it, police said.
Documents state Potts said he was upset with jail staff and that was why he broke the radios.
Court documents state Potts has 24 felonies on his criminal record, including larcenies, grand larcenies, assaults on law enforcement officers and possession of stolen property with the intent to sell.
Potts was serving three years and two months for grand larceny in James City County when the alleged offense occurred with the radios, according to court records.
Potts’ case is scheduled for trial July 21 at 9 a.m. in the Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court.
Fearing can be reached at sarah.f@localvoicemedia.com.
