VIRGINIA BEACH — A Michigan man was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison for the carjacking, robbery, burglary, and abduction of a 75-year-old Virginia Beach woman.
Earl Lavern Sparks, 35, will serve 20 years of that term – the other 20 years was suspended by Circuit Court Judge A. Bonwill Shockley.
“This was well-above the 14-year sentence which was the high-end of the Virginia State Sentencing Guidelines,” said Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin Stolle, in a news release.
Sparks pleaded guilty on Oct. 16, 2017.
The case
On the afternoon of May 10, 2017, the victim, a 75-year-old widow, was alone in her home in the Aragona neighborhood of Virginia Beach.
Her front door was open and her screen door was unlocked when she heard a knock. She did not see anyone at the door, so she locked it.
But Sparks had already snuck into the home and was hiding inside, according to court papers filed in the case.
Sparks found a white cord and a steak knife and went upstairs to the woman’s room. He threw her to the ground, breaking her shoulder. He then tied her to a bed and unplugged her phone from the wall, according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
Sparks found a debit card inside the woman’s purse, and demanded the PIN number. He called the bank to change the PIN number, but was unsuccessful.
Sparks stole the woman’s phone, laptop, car keys, debit card, and two TVs. He drove away in her Toyota RAV4. Despite her injuries, the woman was able to free herself. She ran to a neighbor’s house and called police, according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
The neighbor had a surveillance camera and Sparks was recorded entering the victim’s home, and later loading the loot into the woman’s vehicle.
Police said they were familiar with Sparks and knew he was staying in the same neighborhood as the woman. Authorities found the woman’s vehicle four days after the incident in Flint, Michigan, Sparks’ hometown.
Detectives later found out that Sparks sold the vehicle to a friend in Flint.
Sparks has a lengthy criminal record dating back to March 2000. His prior convictions include driving without a license (2 counts), failure to submit certificate of insurance, assault on law enforcement officer (2 counts), possession of marijuana, contempt of court, giving false identification to police, and obtaining money by false pretenses (3 counts), according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
