Madelyn Pennino
Intelligencer Journal Staff
LANCASTER, Pa. — A jury in York deliberated for two hours Thursday before finding a former Columbia man not guilty of hitting a police officer with a ceramic flower pot.
Zebulun Sweeney, 20, a 2005 graduate of Columbia High School, was found not guilty of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person in connection with an incident in which York city police Officer Michael Ebersole was injured in December.
Prosecutors alleged that Sweeney was charging underage partygoers a fee to drink alcohol at a party in his York home on Dec. 17, 2006, when officers received a noise complaint and went there around 1 a.m., according to published reports.
Ebersole went to the back door and was speaking to several people who were trying to leave the party, police said, when he was struck in the head with a large ceramic flower pot.
Ebersole sustained injuries to his head, neck and shoulders and was unable to work for a month, according to reports.
Sweeney and his brother, Aziijah Sweeney, then fled the residence, police said.
Zebulun Sweeney was arrested two weeks later in Silver Spring, Md.
Carrie Wirsing, a senior deputy prosecutor for the York County District Attorney’s Office, said the case was difficult to prosecute because there was only one eyewitness to the incident.
“This case could have gone either way,” Wirsing said. “But to say I am disappointed is an understatement.”
Sweeney’s defense attorney is Rick Robinson.
Wirsing said one of the biggest problems was that few people were willing to come forward and testify.
“In a case where a police officer responds to a call where there is a party, we often deal with witnesses that are reluctant to cooperate,” Wirsing said.
Ebersole, two police officers, a detective and a U.S. Marshall testified for the prosecution.
Wirsing said the verdict indicates the jury wanted more evidence.
“A lot of times juries want more proof than a reasonable doubt, especially when the charges are so serious,” Wirsing said.
Although Sweeney was found not guilty of the charges, he was remanded to York County Prison on unrelated drug charges.
Sweeney’s preliminary hearing on the drug charges is scheduled for Thursday.
Copyright 2007 Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.