Driver is acquitted of assault on trooper

The Lower Frankford man was accused of trying to run over the officer, who shot him during a chase. But he is convicted of lesser charges in the incident.

The Patriot-News

August 11, 2009

By Matt Miller

Of The Patriot News

Joshua Grimes didn’t say a word in his defense, but a Cumberland County jury acquitted him Tuesday of charges that he tried to run over a state trooper who shot Grimes after a chase in November.

The jury deliberated about three hours before deciding Grimes wasn’t guilty of aggravated assault or simple assault on Trooper Rodney Fink.

The charges were the most serious filed against Grimes, 27, of Lower Frankford Twp., and a conviction could have sent him to state prison.

So Grimes had cause to smile even though the jury convicted him of lesser counts of fleeing police, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest. President Judge Edgar B. Bayley acquitted him of drunken driving.

Grimes’ mother whispered “Yes!” as the acquittals on the assault counts came down, but declined comment later.

*The jurors apparently agreed with defense attorney Tim Barrouk that Grimes was trying to escape but wasn’t trying to harm anyone during the 10-minute chase.*

Police said Grimes tried to back over Fink after the trooper rammed Grimes’ Ford Explorer off the road at the end of a pursuit. The chase began when Fink saw Grimes speeding and driving erratically on Route 11 in West Pennsboro Twp.

*”I think the jury got it right. [Grimes] said from the beginning that he never meant to hurt the officer,” Barrouk said.*

*Barrouk didn’t call any witnesses during the two-day trial.*

*Barrouk didn’t rule out the possibility of filing suit against police challenging whether the shooting was justified, but said that until now Grimes has focused on the criminal case.*

In December, District Attorney David Freed ruled that Fink acted correctly in shooting Grimes.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Sibert said she was disappointed with the acquittals on the assault charges.

She insisted that Grimes knew Fink was behind his vehicle and surely would have run over and killed or severely injured him had the officer not lunged out of the way.

Fink told the jury that after the ramming he was out of his cruiser and behind the Explorer when Grimes suddenly backed toward him. Fink said he dodged and fired three times, hitting Grimes once in the chest.

Grimes has been in county prison since his release from the hospital in January.

Sibert said a time-served jail sentence is possible when Bayley sentences Grimes in October.

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