A grand jury has decided not to recommend any charges against an IMPD officer involved in a shooting last October.
The decision was announced Wednesday afternoon by the Marion County Prosecutor's Office. It comes after the grand jury heard two days of evidence in the case.
Officer James Perry, a two-year-veteran of IMPD, was dispatched to a theft in progress on October 19, 2016, in the 100 block of North Denny Street.
MORE | IMPD: 'Quick & violent struggle' led to officer-involved shooting
Once on scene, Perry made contact with the caller, who said her father, 39-year-old Stephen Cole, had stolen her cellphone and debit card.
Cole reportedly refused to cooperate with the officer and physically resisted being detained. That's when his brother, 50-year-old Gerald Cole, reportedly became involved, according to the incident narrative provided by IMPD:
"Cole resisted the officer's attempt to detain him by pulling away and preventing the officer from grabbing his arm in an attempt to sit him down. The two then went to the ground in order for the officer to handcuff Cole, who was still resisting. Stephen Cole was lying on his stomach and the officer was on top of him. The officer was then attacked by an uninvolved third party, who happened to be 50-year-old Gerald Cole. Gerald Cole came up, attacked the officer from behind and attempted to disarm the officer by attempting to remove the officer's duty weapon from its holster. A quick and violent struggle over the gun ensued and the officer was able to maintain control of his weapon. The officer fired two rounds at Gerald Cole, who was a short distance away from the officer when he was struck. These two rounds impacted Mr. Cole in his arm and in his back. The officer immediately requested EMS to the scene to provide treatment of Mr. Cole's injuries."
Cole did not suffer life-threatening injuries from the shooting, and no other injuries were reported from the incident.
