Man Convicted of Assault on Smyrna Police Officer

From the office of the Cobb District Attorney:

An Austell man has been convicted of aggravated assault on a police officer, obstruction and other charges stemming from an incident at Jonquil Park in Smyrna, according to District Attorney Vic Reynolds.

Evidence presented during the trial showed that Kevin Shymel Gibbs, 24, was sitting in the driver’s seat of the only car parked in Jonquil Park about 5 p.m. on a wet, rainy Feb. 12, 2013, when Smyrna Police Officer Daniel Stuckey drove up in his police cruiser to check things out.

After Officer Stuckey got out of his vehicle, Gibbs began moving his Hyundai Sonata toward Officer Stuckey, striking him in the legs. Officer Stuckey ordered Gibbs to stop, which did not happen. Instead, Gibbs’ vehicle accelerated a second time toward Officer Stuckey, who then fired his service weapon through the driver’s window. 

The bullet struck Gibbs, who still did not put his vehicle in park. Rather, he sped out of the park and into rush-hour traffic, weaving in and out of lanes, despite wet roads and traffic. At the intersection of Spring Street and Glenroy Drive, Gibbs’ vehicle hit a Buick Enclave, shearing off a tire from the Buick. But Gibbs still continued driving and later crashed into a median. That’s when Officer Stuckey, a nine-year veteran officer who had followed Gibbs, performed a Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT), stopping Gibbs’ vehicle.

As it turned out, Gibbs had an active warrant for his arrest for DUI at the time of the encounter, and his driver’s license had been suspended.

Assistant District Attorney Jaret Usher, who prosecuted the case for the state, discounted defense assertions that Gibbs was trying to escape from a cop who had shot Gibbs “for no reason.”

“At no point did Kevin Gibbs ever say, ‘Please help me!’ He never called 911 and said ‘I’m fleeing for my life!’” Usher argued. Instead, she outlined what she called Mr. Gibbs’ “confession by conduct” – while fleeing from Officer Stuckey, he ordered his three passengers to get out; he fled at a high rate of speed; he wrecked once but continued fleeing; and after Officer Stuckey performed the PIT maneuver, Gibbs opened the driver’s side door of his vehicle.

“He was going to run,” Usher told jurors. “In fact, he’s still running today.”

On Friday morning, jurors convicted Gibbs of aggravated assault on a police officer, obstruction of an officer, two counts of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, and reckless driving.

Cobb Superior Court Judge C. LaTain Kell tentatively set sentencing for Dec. 5. The maximum possible sentence is 35 years plus 12 months.

Gibbs was represented by Marietta attorney Sandy Rice.