Jacob Rice
Copyright, The Republic, Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ind. — A Bartholomew Circuit Court jury did not accept the prosecutor’s argument that a defendant tried to murder a Columbus police officer last year in the Forest Park residential neighborhood.
However, the six-man, six woman jury did find Jacob D. Rice, 39, guilty of the four remaining felony counts filed against him.
Rice was accused of firing a handgun at Columbus Police Sgt. Lukas Nibarger in the early morning hours of June 27, 2021. The officer saw Rice attempting to look through the window of a darkened home while the occupants were on vacation. Prosecutors claimed Rice fired a 9mm Smith & Wesson M&P Shield handgun at the officer after Nibarger identified himself as a policeman and demanded that he raise his hands. But after six-and-a-half hours of deliberation, the six-man, six-woman jury found the defendant not guilty of attempted murder as a Level 1 felony.
However, the defendant was found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon as a Level 4 felony, criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon as a Level 6 felony, theft of a firearm as a Level 6 felony and theft of property (a bicycle) as a Level 6 felony.
On those charges, Rice could receive a sentence of as little as four years – and as much as 22 years, as well as fines of up to $40,000.
What the jurors were not told during the trial or deliberations was that a habitual offender status is added that could lengthen Rice’s sentence. A sentencing date for Rice is expected to be scheduled within a few weeks.
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.
