Texas Man Gets 70 Years in Prison After Spitting on Police Officers

Larry Pearson, 36, was sentenced to 70 years in prison after spitting on police officers during his arrest last year. According to KLBK News, Pearson was found guilty on April 12 of two counts of harassment of a public servant. 

Pearson was arrested for domestic assault in May 2022 after a woman flagged down an officer in Lubbock, Texas. The woman claimed Pearson hit her multiple times, and that he had a firearm – which later turned out to be an airsoft gun. 

People reports after Pearson was taken into custody, he got upset that the woman wasn't arrested instead of him, and began kicking at the doors of the cop car. Prosecutor Jessica Gorman claims that when Pearson was ordered to stop, he spit at both police officers and continued to do so until they arrived at the Lubbock County Detention Center. 

According to The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Defense Attorney Jim Shaw told the jury the sentencing was for a "simple misdemeanor" in a circumstance that got "out of control.”