Prosecutors say driver tried to run down Chesapeake officer

Prosecutors contend Jeremy J. Ross drove his car through a speed bump and stop sign in an attempt to run down a Chesapeake police officer last year.

Ross' gold Buick came within a few feet of Officer Ravi Sheth the afternoon of Oct. 13 in South Norfolk.

"He had to jump out of the street into the grass in order to avoid being hit by the defendant," Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Aneka Williams told a jury Thursday.

Ross, 28, of Portsmouth, is on trial in Chesapeake Circuit Court, charged with attempted capital murder of a police officer. If convicted, he faces 20 years to life in prison.

Judge J. Warren Stephens Jr. asked the jury to return today to conclude the trial.

Sheth was near Edmonds Corner Mobile Home Park when loud noises nearby caught his attention. He saw a car heading his way and yelled, "Stop! Stop! Police!" he testified.

The car continued at him at a high rate of speed, he said.

Jason Dunn, Ross' attorney, argued that his client had been in a domestic dispute at the mobile-home park, drawing a crowd outside. Realizing a group of men was coming after him, Ross sped off in his car, past Sheth, Dunn said.

"There's going to be no evidence that he saw the officer," Dunn argued.