RICEVILLE, Tenn. — A Riceville man is struggling for his life and his neighbor is in jail, charged with beating the man and stealing his car, wallet and pain pills.

Donald L. Haynes, 43, was arrested Sunday on a charge of especially aggravated robbery and is being held in the McMinn County Justice Center on 150,000 bond, Sheriff Steve Frisbie said today.

Authorities said the neighbor, Willis Eugene Cornette, may have lain in his own blood for as long as three days before he was found late Friday. He is listed in critical condition at Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga, authorities said.

“He is in really serious condition,” Sheriff Frisbie said.

Mr. Cornette’s mobile home is in a trailer park on U.S. Highway 11. Sheriff Frisbie said after he was found, injured but alive, authorities put out an alert for his 1994 Chevrolet Lumina.

He said Athens police spotted Mr. Haynes driving the car Sunday on South Jackson Street. He had Mr. Cornette’s checkbook, credit cards and other items, but not the pain pills, the sheriff said.

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