Police Say Hawkins Man Refused To Take Girlfriend To Hospital After Throwing Her From Moving Jeep

CHURCH HILL — A Hawkins County man who allegedly threw his girlfriend from a moving Jeep Tuesday morning reportedly told police he didn’t take her to a hospital because he didn’t want to incur driving charges in Sullivan County. Harry Everett Richmond, 38, 346 E. Main St., Church Hill, was charged with aggravated domestic assault, a Class C felony, as well as driving on a revoked license, ninth offense. Shortly before noon Tuesday, Deputy Michael Allen responded to a possible rolling domestic dispute that had occurred between Early Branch Road and a residence on California Avenue in Church Hill. Upon arrival at the California Avenue residence, Allen spoke to a 47-year-old woman whom he described as being “covered in blood from head to toe.” She stated that she was driving a 1999 Jeep Wrangler when her boyfriend, Richmond, slapped and cursed her because she woke him up and told him to put on his seat belt. Later when she stopped to retrieve a Bluetooth device that had fallen out of the vehicle, Richmond allegedly got behind the wheel. Richmond’s driver’s license is revoked due to previous DUI convictions, including one in 2008 when he was arrested on charges of DUI and animal cruelty after police stopped him from dragging and injuring a mule that was tied to the bumper of his pickup. The girlfriend reportedly told Allen that when she got back into the Jeep, she tried to call 911, but when Richmond saw her on the phone her pushed her out of the moving vehicle. Allen stated that the girlfriend’s injuries were consistent with a person being thrown out of a moving vehicle. Richmond allegedly admitted to driving her from Early Branch Road where the incident occurred to her mother’s home on California Avenue, but stated he didn’t take her to a hospital in Kingsport “because he did not want driving charges in Sullivan County.” He was arraigned Wednesday morning in Sessions Court and released from the Hawkins County Jail on $20,000 bond.