Man cleared of ramming cop car
Published 12:09 am Saturday, February 13, 2010
A jury found a Suffolk man innocent of the attempted malicious wounding of a police officer Thursday.
Robert Jeremiah Uhl was cleared of attempted malicious wounding and hit and run. He was found guilty of obstruction of justice.
The charges stemmed from a Dec. 27, 2008, incident when police arrived at Uhl’s Old Myrtle Road home to serve felony warrants. Uhl was not at home, but a family member called him, according to police.
When he arrived at the residence in a small gray car, a detective approached the driver’s side window and told Uhl he had warrants for his arrest, as another detective pulled her car behind Uhl’s. Uhl then put the vehicle in reverse and hit the police car behind him. The occupant of that car, a Suffolk detective, was treated for a shoulder injury, said Uhl’s defense attorney, Justin Bush.
After hitting that car, Uhl then pulled forward, jumped out and ran.
“My case was that he acted the way he was, because he was scared,” Bush said Friday. “He didn’t know [the police car] was behind him.”
Uhl was sentenced to 15 days in jail for the obstruction of justice charge.