Trooper-involved homicide case rests in prosecutor's hands

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Limbaugh will render a decision on whether to file charges against a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper in the shooting death of Jeffrey Darrell Hobbs possibly as soon as this week.

The highway patrol and the Cape Girardeau County coroner submitted investigative reports Friday to the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney’s office in the officer-involved shooting death of Jeffrey Darrell Hobbs, 48, of Neelys Landing on April 29.

Limbaugh said he and assistant prosecuting attorneys Angel Woodruff and Julie Hunter will review the documents.

Limbaugh and Coroner John Clifton said they received toxicology results for the trooper, whom the highway patrol has refused to name because of its policy, and Hobbs. Officials did not comment on the results of the toxicology reports.

Clifton wrote in a news release he reviewed dashboard-camera video from the trooper’s vehicle and the highway patrol’s report about the shooting. Clifton also met with highway patrol investigators and Hobbs’ family.

Jeffrey Darrell Hobbs

“It was mutually agreed an inquest would serve no purpose in this case,” Clifton said. A coroner’s inquest is a hearing involving the coroner and a small jury that can reach a verdict in the facts of a person’s death.

Clifton said the cause of death was homicide, but a homicide can be justifiable. Highway patrol officials said the trooper shot Hobbs after a confrontation on a driveway near the Lil’ Country Store off Highway 177, according to Highway Patrol Sgt. Clark Parrott.

The trooper conducted a traffic stop because Hobbs was swerving while driving on Highway 177, according to a highway patrol news release.

The two vehicles pulled into the driveway, and Hobbs exited his vehicle and acted suspiciously, causing the trooper to exit his vehicle, Parrott said.

The trooper placed one handcuff on Hobbs, and Hobbs began to fight with the trooper in an attempt to get free, according to the release.

As the two fought, Hobbs got back into his vehicle and started to drive, dragging the trooper along the side of the vehicle, according to the release. At one point, the trooper reached the ignition and turned off the vehicle, but Hobbs responded by turning the vehicle back on, according to the release.

The trooper told Hobbs to stop and that he would shoot him if he did not stop, according to the release.

Hobbs continued to drive, and the trooper fired two rounds, striking Hobbs at least once and wounding him fatally, according to the release.

The trooper was treated at a Cape Girardeau hospital for lacerations to his face, according to the release. Parrott said the lacerations were sustained from the open side of the handcuffs.

Authorities have declined a request by the Southeast Missourian to release the trooper’s dashboard-camera video.

bkleine@semissourian.com

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