Farmer suffers years of loss from vehicle theft

By Linda Cicoira

A Keller woman said the man who stole her farm vehicle took away years of the life she worked hard to achieve and struggles as a senior citizen to maintain.

Forty-one-year-old Quenga Bierster Davis, of Boggs Road in Painter, was initially charged with grand larceny but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of petty larceny in Accomack Circuit Court Thursday as part of a plea bargain. Judge Les Lilley ordered him to pay $3,500 in restitution for the vehicle, which was sold without a title and scrapped. The theft occurred Dec. 10, 2021.

Davis was sentenced to 12 months in jail with all but five months suspended. He will be on probation until restitution is made.

Willie Press, who owned the vehicle, said she was unable to plant her crops for two years because of the theft. “It devastated me,” she said. The vehicle held 200 gallons of fuel oil and was her mode for transporting crops.

“You can’t understand what that does for a senior … for someone to just take away two years … I had to find other resources in order to make sure I had enough funds to pay my bills,” she said. “I had to pay someone to do what I normally do myself … It has had an impact on my health to recoup what you did to me,” she said looking at Davis.