Driver shot by police acquitted of assault by Cumberland County jury
The Patriot News
August 11, 2009
By Matt Miller
Of The Patriot News
A Cumberland County man who was shot by a state trooper after a high-speed chase was acquitted by a county jury this afternoon of the most serious charges filed against him for the November incident.
After deliberating about three hours, the jury acquitted Joshua Grimes, 27, of Lower Frankford Township, of aggravated assault and simple assault. It convicted him of recklessly endangering the two state police officers involved in the chase and of fleeing police and resisting arrest.
Police filed the assault charges because they claimed Grimes tried to back over Trooper Rodney Fink after Fink rammed Grimes’ SUV off the road at the end of the 10-mile chase that started on Route 11 in West Pennsboro Township. Fink, who testified that he feared for his life, shot Grimes once in the chest as Grimes backed toward him.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Sibert, who said she was “disappointed” with the verdict, said that Grimes knew Fink was behind his vehicle and deliberately put the officer in peril. *Defense attorney Tim Barrouk said the jury rightly concluded that Grimes didn’t know the officer was there and didn’t intend to harm anyone.*
He said Grimes’ family hasn’t decided whether to file a lawsuit over the shooting.
Grimes remains in prison pending sentencing by President Judge Edgar B. Bayley in October.
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