Joshua Grimes’ trial comes down to this: Was he trying to escape police or attack them when he backed his SUV toward a trooper after a high-speed chase that lasted more than 10 minutes?
“Desperate men take desperate measures,” prosecutor Michelle Sibert, Cumberland County chief deputy district attorney, told the jury Monday. She said Grimes’ actions show proof of deliberate intent to harm Trooper Rodney Fink.
*But Grimes’ attorney, Timothy Barrouk, said he was going to show that Grimes wanted only to get away and did not have specific intent to harm anyone.*
*“The physical evidence is going to show that there is no way Joshua was aware of Trooper Fink’s presence,” Barrouk said.*
Police account
Fink and Cpl. Daniel Diehl, who was his partner during a roving DUI patrol that night, testified Monday that Grimes led them on a high-speed chase for more than 10 minutes after they saw him turn onto Route 11 from Route 233 and drive erratically.
Their in-car video shows that Grimes was in the wrong lane almost as much as the right one during the chase and that the chase stopped only when Fink performed a “pit maneuver,” hitting the back of Grimes’ Ford Explorer as he was making a turn in Upper Frankford Township.
Fink said he was just a couple of feet behind the Explorer when he got out of the cruiser to confront Grimes and then heard and saw the SUV backing toward him.
“I thought I was going to be run over and killed,” Fink said. So as he ran from behind the SUV, he fired three shots at the driver.
Diehl said he also thought Fink was in imminent danger, noting that he aimed at Grimes’ head for half a second before deciding that a ricochet off the windshield might harm Fink and shot out a tire instead. He then shot the radiator to disable the Explorer.
Shot in the torso
One of Fink’s shots hit Grimes in the torso, ending his escape attempt.
Both officers testified that Grimes smelled strongly of alcohol as they took him into custody.
Cpl. James Swartz of Newville borough police, who arrived at the scene next and began treating Grimes, said Grimes was “extremely intoxicated.”
Someone on the Advanced Life Support crew later asked Grimes if he had consumed alcohol, Swartz said, and he responded that he had had a large amount.
Swartz and Diehl noted that they found two empty 12-ounce cans of Heineken beer in the Explorer.
*Barrouk questioned Fink about where he was standing when he fired, noting that the bullet holes are above the handle of the Explorer’s driver-side door.*
Fink said he was running from behind the Explorer as he was shooting.
*Barrouk also asked about the decal that covered the rear windshield of the Explorer.*
Fink said it was illegal because it could impede a driver’s view but that it was semi-transparent and he could see Grimes through it.
*Barrouk also asked Diehl about a segment of the video that recorded him saying, “This little (expletive), I’m going to tune him up so (expletive) bad” during the chase.*
Diehl said that was “just a lot of frustration coming to the top” and noted that he didn’t touch Grimes except when handcuffing him and checking to see if he was injured.
Testimony was to resume this morning before Cumberland County President Judge Edgar Bayley.
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