CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE - Prosecutors said Kenneth Copson drove his all-terrain vehicle with no headlights through dimly lit streets and off-road trails, trying to elude Middle Township police officers.
Then he ran one over.
Copson's trial began Wednesday in Superior Court.
The Middle Township man is accused of aggravated assault and eluding police from a May 2008 accident in the rural Edgewood section of the township. He was 19 at the time.
The four-wheeled vehicle snapped Officer Steven Novsak's left leg in the mid shin.
Novsak and another police officer were waving flashlights and yelling at Copson to stop on East Main Street in Edgewood before he ran Novsak over, Assistant Prosecutor Jim Herlihy said during opening arguments.
Herlihy said Copson showed "extreme indifference to the value of human life."
In the minutes leading up the accident with the police officer, Copson broke various traffic laws on his ATV, including driving through a stop sign, Herlihy said.
Officers, who were summoned to the area several times that night for reports of fights, used flashlights and night-vision goggles to look into the darkness. They heard the engine of an ATV circling the area, Novsak testified.
On East Main Street, Novsak was standing alongside Officer Matthew Martino when Copson's ATV approached, its front wheels leaving the ground as it sped up, Herlihy said.
"He doesn't stop. In fact, he accelerates directly into officer Novsak," Herlihy told the jury of 14, including two alternate jurors.
In his opening statement, Copson's attorney Joseph Rodgers said prosecutors refused to treat the case for what it was - an accident.
Rodgers said it was an accident that could best be handled in civil - not criminal - court.
Rodgers said the street was dark enough to see the stars. The ATV swerved at the last second, he said.
Rodgers also faulted the Middle Township Police Department's investigation, and he said another agency should have been called in to investigate because the accident involved a township officer.
"If you jump to conclusions, you can shield yourself and others from seeing the truth," Rodgers said.
There was no description of the ATV's speed and "they say the quad swerved but never marked out where," he said.
Novsak, a six-year Middle Township police officer, testified Wednesday afternoon that the impact from the ATV sent him into the air and he landed on his back.
When he lifted his head to see his legs, "It looked like I had two kneecaps on my left leg," he told the jury, pausing to gain composure.
He lay on the courtroom carpet to show jurors how his toes pointed west although his leg did not.
The trial will continue today with more testimony from Novsak.
However, the trial will not touch on a compelling offshoot of this case.
This summer, Copson's uncle, Elvin Copson, 41, was charged with two counts of attempted murder and conspiracy.
Authorities said Copson, a commercial fisherman from Toledo, Ohio, allegedly plotted to kill Novsak and Martino to prevent them from testifying at the ongoing trial.
The Cape May County Prosecutor's Office have alleged that Elvin Copson accepted a $2,500 upfront payment to kill the two officers. His indictment alleges Elvin Copson conspired with three unindicted co-conspirators, who are cooperating witnesses, to kill the two officers.
Elvin Copson has pleaded not guilty in that case.
Contact Brian Ianieri:
609-463-6713
