COURT NEWS UPDATE

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

NILES – The Niles man who shot a Michigan State Trooper last October learned his fate last week. Meanwhile, a Berrien Springs man faces a late September trial in Berrien County Trial Court after allegedly firing shots at a gas station in downtown Berrien Springs on June 18.

The shooting occurred last fall on Oct. 6 when Trooper Jason DeVries stopped the car Isaac Ntabaazi was a passenger in near downtown Niles. DeVries was shot once in the thigh and is paralyzed from the right knee down. DeVries shot Ntabaazi twice resulting in him losing his eyesight.

Ntabaazi, 24, of Niles, was found guilty by a Berrien County Trial Court jury in mid May of seven counts

related to the shooting, but not the most serious count he faced, assault with intent to murder which carries a maximum penalty of up to life in prison.

Jurors found him guilty of three counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony, one count of carrying a concealed weapon, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, reckless/careless discharge of a firearm causing injury or death and resisting and obstructing police causing serious bodily impairment.

Last week, Berrien County Trial Judge Sterling Schrock heard from both DeVries and Ntabaazi before handing down his sentence. He departed upwards from the sentencing guidelines, noting that they did not adequately address the circumstances of the incident and how Ntabaazi pulled a concealed weapon out and shot the trooper.

Judge Schrock sentenced Ntabaazi to 36 months to five years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, 36 months to five years in prison for carrying a concealed weapon, 16 months to two years for reckless/careless discharge, two years on each of the felony firearm counts and 100 months to 15 years on the resisting and obstructing count.

The felony firearm and resisting and obstructing counts will be served consecutively. The judge said Ntabaazi will serve two years for the felony firearms counts, followed by the three concurrent 16 months and 36 months sentences and then the 100 month sentence.

“It’s clear to me that you were capable to think, anticipate and avoid completely the behavior you engaged in,” the judge told Ntabaazi. “What happened there is incomprehensible to me. What caused you to behave that way.”

“I watched the video (from the police camera), it was clear when you got out of the car that your hands were empty,” he added. “So the weapon was concealed on your person … You clearly and intentionally secured the weapon in your hand and discharged it into the trooper.”

DeVries said the incident has changed his life completely. He noted that he has always dreamed of being a trooper and had wanted to pursue special training before this incident. He said that he’s had long bouts of insomnia and agonizing pain.

“In six seconds, you took that all away,” he said. “You ruined my career and then I see your eyes and how messed up your life is. Doing something stupid ruined both of our lives.”

Ntabaazi apologized to DeVries and said he took full responsibility for his actions. “I always wanted to be a good person,” he said. “I never felt the need to go down the road of violence. I made a very bad decision to go out that night. I’m very remorseful for my actions but I can’t take them back.”

In the Berrien Springs case, Ethan William Hoge, 23, of East Shawnee Road in Berrien Springs, is charged with five counts of assault with intent to murder and five counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He is currently in jail in lieu of $750,000 cash or surety bond.

The assault with intent to murder charge carries a maximum penalty of life or any term of years in prison. The felony firearm charge carries a penalty of two years in prison consecutive to other penalties.

Berrien County Assistant Prosecutor Kate Arnold said Hoge waived his right to a preliminary hearing at a pre-exam conference June 29 in Berrien County Trial Court in Niles. Hoge is being represented by attorney Peter Johnson.

Arnold said the next court dates for Hoge are Aug. 10 for a case conference, Sept. 12 for a status conference and Sept. 28 for the trial.

The June 18 incident in downtown Berrien Springs occurred outside the Speedway gas station at 105 N. Cass St. Berrien Springs/Oronoko Township police were called to the gas station in the early morning hours of June 18 on reports of a shooting.

On arrival, they found a male employee of the gas station who had sustained a gunshot wound to his leg. The employee, Oshaven Williams, and witnesses said that several people had been in the parking lot arguing and that at some point a vehicle drove by the gas station and fired several shots toward the people in the parking lot.

The employee who was shot had been standing near the entrance to the gas station when he was struck with a bullet. The building was hit with several rounds as well. The employee was taken to Spectrum Lakeland Hospital in St. Joseph with non life threatening injuries.

Police then went to a home in Oronoko Township where the suspect was found and arrested after a gas station employee identified Hoge as having been on the scene.

Police went to the East Shawnee Road residence where they located and arrested Ethan Hoge. Hoge was read his Miranda rights and proceeded to give a statement.

Hoge said he got into a verbal and physical confrontation with two male subjects and then went home to get his AR-15 rifle. He said he went back to the gas station and saw several people outside the station and assumed that the two men he had confronted was among them and started shooting.

The police report stated that Hoge told police that he pointed his rifle out of the driver’s window and began firing multiple rounds toward the Speedway, steering the vehicle with his knees. He returned to his home and parked his vehicle in a wooded area near his house on fears of retaliation.

The report indicated that two other employees were in the gas station, with one hiding in a back room and another hit by shrapnel. The two men targeted by Hoge were not hit. Berrien County Crime Scene Investigators found approximately thirteen bullet holes in the building and pumps.