Son joins father in jail

Less than a week after Gary F. Parsley, 37, of Worthington, was convicted and sentenced to 12 years for firing a gun at another vehicle during an incident of "road rage" last November, he was joined in jail by a son who was arrested over the weekend.

Benjamin C. Parsley, 19, of Worthington, allegedly had a woman on the ground in a restaurant parking lot in Linton on Saturday evening while she, and a small child in the back seat of a car, were both screaming.

According to a report from the Linton Police Department, when officers arrived around 9:15 p.m., they found Parsley lying on top of the victim, struggling to get the key from her. Officers separated the two.

The victim said they had been arguing over him being drunk and that his mother was on her way to pick him up. She stated that he told her she wasn't leaving him and then he tried to take the keys from her.

Benjamin Parsley was arrested by LPD Cpl. Paul Clark with assistance from Officer Nicholas Yingling.

He was booked in to the Greene County Jail where his bond was set at $4,000 on a preliminary charge of domestic battery in the presence of a minor child. He posted bond, was released from jail on Sunday and is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.

The elder Parsley will not be getting out for awhile.

When he was sentenced in Greene Superior Court last week, he didn't get off easy.

The fact that Gary Parsley showed no remorse for the crime and was involved in a confrontation with another person within the week prior to sentencing, had an effect on the length of the sentence handed down.

Under the terms of a negotiated plea agreement, Parsley pled guilty to attempted aggravated battery, a class B felony. All the other counts he was charged with were dropped including: Attempted battery with a deadly weapon, a class C felony; criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, a class D felony, and reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor.

Sentencing was left up to the discretion of the judge but the agreement said it should not exceed 12 years.

Superior Court Judge Dena Martin gave him the 12 years, with four years suspended. He'll spend those four years on probation when he gets out of prison.

In pronouncing sentence, Martin said Parsley did not have a criminal record and did enter a plea of guilty, but those mitigating factors were outweighed by aggravating factors including: That a reduced or suspended sentence would depreciate the seriousness of the crime; his lack of remorse; and that according to the alternative sentencing evaluation, within the week prior to sentencing, Parsley was involved in an altercation where he went to a residence and confronted someone.

Parsley was also ordered to pay $3,101.34 in restitution to the victim, Michael Tennant of Linton.

Parsley used a Browning 9 mm handgun to fire one shot from his vehicle which hit another vehicle being driven by Tennant.

The incident occurred on Nov. 19, 2008.

Tennant was eastbound on State Road 54 east of Linton in a Ford Explorer when Parsley, who was also eastbound in a S-10 pickup truck, passed Tennant.

When Parsley then slowed his vehicle down to approximately 40 mph, Tennant attempted to pass Parsley but said Parsley accelerated causing Tennant difficulty getting back into the eastbound lane.

When Tennant did get back in, Parsley then passed Tennant back and is alleged to have immediately applied his brakes giving Tennant no time to stop. The front of Tennant's vehicle made impact with the back of Parsley's.

Tennant then passed Parsley again -- on the right side of the roadway -- and continued east toward Switz City.

Both drivers called 911 on their cell phones.

The first call was made at 2:47 p.m. by Parsley who said he had just been rear-ended by the Explorer at 70 mph and the vehicle took off. He said the Explorer had tried to run him off the road and he was following it. They had turned south at Switz City and were heading towards Lyons at a high rate of speed.

The second call was made at 2:48 p.m. by Tennant who said he needed some help because a crazy person was chasing him. He said there had been an accident and that the other driver had gotten a gun out. Tennant said that he "had this thing all the way to the floor and I can't get away from him."

At 2:51 p.m., Tennant called 911 again and said Parsley had just shot his truck and that he had turned around in the middle of the highway before reaching Lyons and was headed back toward Switz City. He said he was afraid to stop because Parsley might shoot at him again.

When a dispatcher called Parsley back, he is alleged to have said, "I shot at him, I am permitted." The dispatcher told him to stop but he did not -- he continued to chase, or follow, the Explorer north on SR 67. Parsley said the Explorer was probably running at 110 mph.

At the intersection of SR 67 and 157 south of Worthington, Tennant, followed by Parsley, turned south.

They were met by Sheriff's Deputies Terry Wade and Brad Deckard who intercepted and stopped the two just north of County Road 100N near the Shawnee Airport north of the Lighthouse Junction.

With guns drawn, the deputies ordered the drivers out of their vehicles.

When the handgun was retrieved from the passenger seat of Parsley's truck, it had a partially loaded magazine, the hammer was cocked back and a live round was chambered.

A copper round from a 9 mm was found on the driver's side of Tennant's vehicle almost directly under the gas pedal. The hole made by the gunshot was between the left front tire and the driver's side door. The 9 mm round appeared to have traveled through the driver's side and stopped just under the driver's feet.

Tennant was not found to be in possession of any type of firearm.

The state was represented by Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw. Parsley was represented by private defense attorney Tim Shonk.

In preparation for filing an appeal, Parsley has filed a request that a public defender be appointed to represent him during the appeal process.