A Farmville man has been arrested and charged with attempted rape, abduction, and several other felony charges involving a Longwood University student. The Longwood Police department identified the suspect as Earnest Neal Harvey, who is now in custody.
Longwood Chief of Police Robert Beach described the situation, “Around 12:45 last night, we got a call from a student that said a girl seemed to be having trouble with a male subject along the area of Buffalo St. and Grove St.” He continued, “Just about a minute later, the blue emergency phone at the bridge going to Lancer Park was activated, and we could hear a young lady screaming and, a man’s voice in the background.”
According to Beach, Harvey “took off running through the woods” as officers arrived on the scene. “He was out of sight when the first officer got there,” Beach said.
He added that because the crime occurred during a change of shift time for the Police Department, they had additional officers on hand. “We apprehended the alleged suspect several blocks away on the corner of Beach and Garden St.,” he said.
According to Beach, the victim was not seriously injured. “She was taken to Farmville Police and met with investigators, and was taken care of with the issues she had physically. I think she just had some scrapes and bruises.”
He added that as far as he knew, it was a random act of violence, “The victim had never seen this guy before. She had no relation at all to him.”
Harvey has been in trouble with the law multiple times in the past. According to Virginia Court archives, Harvey’s criminal record started Jan. 16, 2011 when he was arrested for shoplifting, and failed to appear in court multiple times. He then was apprehended in August of 2012 and charged with assault and battery. Later that year, Harvey was arrested again for multiple incidents including a drunk in public charge, and underage possession of alcohol. Most recently, April of 2013, Harvey was arrested on numerous charges including indecent exposure, simulated masturbation, assault, and abduction on or near Longwood’s campus.
Harvey has also been to court multiple times for not paying fines, and not showing up to scheduled appointments with officials.
According to Beach, Harvey has been banned from Longwood’s campus for a decent amount of time. “He was on our trespass list here at Longwood for things he’d been involved with over the years,” he said. “We ban people who we think would disrupt the culture, or who we think would create a disturbance.” He added, “Putting someone on that list usually stems from illegal or inappropriate activity.”
Harvey’s hearing is set for Nov. 25 at 1 p.m. in Farmville.
Follow The Rotunda for future updates on the case, including Harvey’s plea and future court dates.
