Paul Pursell was sentenced Wednesday to 8 1/2 years in prison on charges of aggravated robbery, felonious assault and arson.
Charlotte Caldwell | The Lima News
LIMA — A Columbus Grove man was sentenced to a mandatory minimum 8 1/2 years in prison Wednesday after a jury found him guilty the day before of aggravated robbery, felonious assault and arson with firearm specifications.
Because Paul Pursell’s sentence is mandatory, he will not be eligible to apply for judicial release. Pursell, 57, must also pay $2,561.11 restitution for medical bills to Regan McCully, the victim in the case, and register as an arson offender every year for life.
A Crime Victim Services representative said in the Allen County Common Pleas Court that McCully was pleased with the outcome of the case and wanted Pursell to receive a maximum prison sentence.
Assistant Prosecutor Colleen Limerick called Pursell’s attitude “flippant” throughout the trial, and she believed he showed no genuine remorse. She wanted consecutive sentences for Pursell, while Pursell’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Megan McLean, argued for concurrent sentences.
It was mentioned that Pursell had no criminal record besides a felony receiving stolen property charge in Van Wert County, for which he was recently sentenced to 180 days in jail.
The jury heard testimonies from law enforcement as well as McCully and Pursell, whose stories conflicted on what actually happened at the Pilot Flying J in Beaverdam at about 4 a.m. July 22.
McCully said he saw Pursell under his truck stealing his gas after puncturing his gas tank, and when McCully confronted Pursell, Pursell struck McCully with a crowbar and threw a cigarette in the leaking gasoline, causing it to catch fire.
Pursell said he was asleep in his car when he awoke to McCully taking his keys, and McCully then hit him with the crowbar. He said he had a cigar in his mouth during the struggle that fell out into the gas.
Reach Charlotte Caldwell at 567-242-0451.
