TEXARKANA, Texas - The case of a man who was shot by police in March while allegedly lunging for a gun is headed to a Bowie County grand jury for possible indictment.
At a hearing Monday for Timothy Keonte Noble, 20, before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell, the prosecutor, First Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp, said she doesn't expect the case to be resolved with a plea bargain and expressed her intention to present the matter to a Bowie County grand jury later this month.
Noble appeared from jail by Zoom video conferencing software as did his lawyer, Andrew Howard of Dallas.
Crisp noted that in addition to the charges stemming from Noble's confrontation with a Texarkana, Texas, police officer March 23, Noble is also facing a motion to revoke an existing felony probation he was serving at the time.
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 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 drum-fed 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 is serving a five-year term of probation for possession of a controlled substance, cocaine.
According to a probable cause in that case, Noble hit a utility pole and a fence May 19, 2019, at the Forest Point apartment complex on Kennedy Lane in Texarkana, Texas. When police arrived, they found Noble sitting on the ground holding the bumper to his Mercury Grand Marquis. Officers observed a bottle of liquor in the backseat of the car and bullets lying in the driver's side floorboard.
When Noble heard the officers talking about the liquor bottle, Noble approached them, said the bottle was "old" and told the officers they could not search his car. Noble pushed one of the officers away and stood between the officers and the car.
As officers attempted to take him into custody, Noble struggled with them and attempted to flee. Once officers subdued Noble and placed him in custody, they searched the car and found more than 17 grams of cocaine in a bag in the ashtray. A bottle of MD 20-20 was recovered from the backseat.
Noble pleaded guilty and received probation in September. A motion to revoke his probation alleges a new criminal offense, failure to complete community service, failure to abstain from the use of drugs and failure to pay court-ordered fees.
Noble's bail totals $140,000 on his newest felony charges. Noble is not entitled to bail in the case where a motion to revoke probation is pending.
Noble's case is expected to be presented to a grand jury later this month. Noble is scheduled to appear before Tidwell again June 1.