A Concord police officer was found not guilty Friday on charges he assaulted a drunk homeless man outside Sal’s Pizza while attempting to place him into protective custody.

An attorney for Richard Cobb, 41, argued throughout the trial that the officer was justified when he conducted a leg sweep of the man that knocked him to the sidewalk and then, minutes later, pushed his body against a police cruiser.

“Sometimes arrests go pretty and sometimes arrests don’t go pretty,” attorney Eric Wilson said during his closing argument. 

The interaction, which occurred in April 2023, began relatively calmly before devolving as the man struggled with the handcuffs Cobb and another officer attempted to place around his wrists, according to testimony during the trial.

“I want you to think about the difficult job police officers have,” Wilson told the jury. “They have to make split-second judgments and allow their training to kick in when someone doesn’t want to go into handcuffs.”

Cobb, who has been on unpaid leave from the department since April 2023, also faces assault charges in a separate case involving his actions while on duty, which is set to go to trial in March.

In a case that highlighted the at-times strained relationship between police and homeless people, prosecutors offered a starkly different version of what unfolded on that Saturday in early April.

“You pass a Blake probably every day, maybe not even giving it a second thought; maybe just something to walk around on the sidewalk,” prosecutor Joe Fincham said during his closing argument, referring to the man, Blake Haney. “But he is a human being and the same laws that protect him … are the same laws that protect any person in this state.”

Police officers have significant leeway to use force when they have a reasonable belief they or someone else is in danger, and Cobb said he grew worried that Haney’s partially-clasped handcuff could become a weapon if the officers lost control of his arms. 

That was when he said he decided to resort to his training to conduct the leg sweep that sent Haney hurtling to the ground.

Haney, who could not be located to testify, sustained lacerations to his face in the fall.

Later, as they searched Haney against a police cruiser, Cobb said Haney “lunged” at him, which led him to push him back.

The scene was caught on surveillance camera and led to at least one complaint from a civilian bystander.

After more than four hours of deliberation, the foreperson announced shortly before 3 p.m. that the jury had reached not guilty verdicts on both assault charges. Cobb reached for and grasped the outstretched hand of a loved one sitting in the front row.

He and Wilson declined to comment as they left the courthouse. Prosecutors also declined to comment.

 

Jeremy Margolis can be contacted at jmargolis@cmonitor.com.