TEXARKANA, Texas - A man who was shot by police in March while allegedly lunging for a handgun pleaded not guilty Tuesday to aggravated assault on a peace officer and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Timothy Keonte Noble, 20, appeared via video from the Bowie County jail for arraignment Tuesday morning before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell. Noble's lawyer, Andrew Howard of Dallas, entered pleas of not guilty on Noble's behalf to all charges. First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said she and Howard have been in regular communication and noted some defense motions may need to be addressed by the court.
Tidwell directed Howard and Crisp to narrow down the issues that will require a court ruling and scheduled the case for a pretrial hearing July 13.
Noble was shot several times by a Texarkana, Texas, police officer following a foot chase in the early hours of March 23. Officers responded to calls reporting a group of armed, masked men walking through the Woodbridge Apartment complex and shots fired, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Texarkana, Texas, police previously said Noble and others were among two groups who'd been at odds. Repeated calls to 911, which began the night before, resulted in officers collecting more than a dozen shell casings.
About 3 a.m. officers came upon four men who immediately ran from them. Three of the men ran into a residential housing area while a fourth, identified as Noble, fled until he was confronted in the parking lot of Prima Iglesia Bautista Hispana church. Noble was allegedly squatting in a 4-foot deep concrete drainage ditch when the officer approached, drew his service weapon and ordered Noble to drop the gun he allegedly carried.
Noble allegedly laid his gun, a pistol with a drumfed magazine loaded with several rounds, on the rim of the ditch but ignored the officer's command to lie on the ground. Noble allegedly lunged for the gun, which led the officer to fire multiple rounds from his service weapon.
According to the affidavit, body camera footage from two officers, including the officer who shot Noble, confirms that Noble lunged for his pistol seconds before he was fired upon. Noble was treated at a local hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries and has since been placed in the Bowie County jail.
Noble's bail on the charges totals $140,000. He is also being held on a motion to revoke a five-year probation he received in Bowie County in September 2019 for possession of cocaine. If convicted of aggravated assault on a peace officer, Noble faces five to 99 years or life in prison.