Man sentenced for assault charges

Published 4:37 pm Tuesday, December 7, 2021

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A Suffolk man was sentenced last week to 60 days to serve in jail for an assault that happened after a motor vehicle accident in 2018.

Huey Boswell was sentenced on Dec. 6 on four charges related to the incident, which happened Aug. 18, 2018.

According to statements in court, Boswell’s wife, Ashley Desirae Boswell, 23 at the time, and their children were in the vehicle when Boswell was involved in an accident with Larry Chavis, 66 at the time, who had his wife, Cindy Chavis, also in her late 60s at the time, in the car.

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The crash happened at the intersection of Pruden Boulevard and Kings Fork Road.

Before police arrived on scene, Huey Boswell arrived and assaulted both of the Chavises. Larry Chavis fell back in a ditch and suffered bruised ribs; Cindy Chavis suffered blurry vision after Boswell punched her in the face.

“My first impression was, ‘why?’” Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jeff James said in court on Thursday. “There’s no evidence of Mr. and Mrs. Chavis were drunk; there’s no evidence they did anything at all wrong. It’s just uncalled for to pull up in a pickup truck, jump out and start assaulting people for some perceived wrong.”

Boswell’s attorney, Fred Taylor, told the court that Boswell was afraid for his young family.

“He has fully accepted responsibility for his actions,” Taylor said. “He made a series of big mistakes that day. This has been a lesson.”

Taylor also added that when Boswell was arrested in South Carolina, he spent about 27 days in jail there awaiting extradition.

Speaking before the sentence was pronounced, Boswell apologized to the Chavises.

“What you did was extremely reckless,” Circuit Court Judge Matthew A. Glassman said.

Glassman sentenced Boswell to 30 days on each of two assault and battery charges. He also sentenced Boswell to 30 days suspended on an obstruction charge and 30 days suspended on a reckless driving charge and fined him $250. He was eligible for credit for time served while awaiting extradition.

Ashley Boswell was previously found guilty for failure to yield, but a charge of obstruction related to the assault investigation was ultimately not prosecuted.