Man Convicted of Attempting to Murder Oakland Officer and Another Man in 2013

A man whose lawyer says he suffers from a mental impairment has been convicted of two counts of attempted murder and other charges for shooting a police officer and shooting at another man in a three-minute crime spree in East Oakland two years ago.

Jurors deliberated for only two hours before pronouncing their verdict against 32-year-old Nathaniel Cook late Thursday afternoon. Prosecutor Patrick Moriarty told jurors in his closing argument on Thursday morning that even though Cook may have mental issues “he knew what he was doing” and was “calculated” during the incident in the area of 48th Avenue and East 12th Street at about 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 25, 2013. Moriarty said Cook was armed with a semi-automatic gun when he stole a bicycle belonging to Hector Arreola, shot at a second man, Jose Antunez, who tried to stop him, shot and wounded Oakland police Officer D’Vour Thurston and pointed his gun at another man.

Antunez wasn’t injured in the incident. In addition to one count of the attempted murder of a peace officer for shooting Thurston and one count of attempted murder for shooting at Jose Antunez, Cook was convicted of second-degree robbery, shooting at an occupied vehicle and two counts of assault. He also was convicted of a misdemeanor count of brandishing a firearm for allegedly pointing his gun at a cab driver who drove by the crime scene.

Cook faces a possible sentence of life in prison. However, a sanity phase in his case will begin on Monday at which his attorney, Barbara Thomas, will seek to prove that he was legally insane at the time of the crimes. If the same jurors find that Cook was insane, he will be placed in a mental institution instead of being sent to state prison. Jurors in the case watched videos of the incident were taken by security cameras at multiple businesses in the area. Thomas admitted in her closing argument that Cook is the suspect depicted in the videos and there’s no question he was involved in the incident. But she said the key issue in the case is Cook’s state of mind at the time and whether he had a specific intent to kill Thurston and Antunez.

Cook testified on Tuesday that he takes multiple medications for his mental health issues and suffers from panic attacks. Thomas told jurors today that Cook “was overcome with fear or panic” during the incident and “didn’t see things the way you or I would.” Thomas said Cook’s mental impairment “precludes him from being convicted” of the most serious charges against him, which are attempted murder and robbery. She said Cook should be treated differently than other defendants because, “How we treat our most vulnerable people is how we judge our society.”

Thomas said Cook shouldn’t be convicted of robbery because he didn’t want to keep Arreola’s bike and only wanted to take “temporary possession” of it. But Moriarty played a video of Cook forcibly ripping the bicycle from Arreola and said, “This is a clear example of a robbery.” Moriarty said Thurston and another police officer, Rochard Holton, were in the vicinity of Cook’s crime spree because they were investigating a hit-and-run accident when they heard the gunshots that Cook allegedly fired at Antunez and responded to the scene in separate patrol cars.

Thurston was the first to arrive and Cook, who was hiding behind a car, fired at least two shots at the officer, one of which struck him in his left thigh, Moriarty said. Holton then arrived and fired three shots at Cook but missed, the prosecutor said. Cook then put his hands up and surrendered, according to Moriarty. Thurston, 43, testified last week that he retired shortly after the incident. Thomas said Cook shouldn’t be convicted of a great bodily injury clause for the injuries Thurston suffered, saying they weren’t major and “are not a problem.” But Moriarty said it’s “just beyond belief” that Thomas would question how seriously Thurston was injured. He said Thurston still has a bullet in his leg and can’t exercise to the same extent he did before he was shot.

Referring to Thurston, Moriarty said, “He might have a different opinion on whether it’s ruined his life. Of course his injuries are major.”

By Bay City News