A young man accused of assaulting a pair of Staunton police officers last summer faced a trial by judge Thursday but Orlando Barbour will have to wait a couple of months to learn his fate.
If the "Barbour" name is familiar, it might be because officers, tracking dogs and a state police helicopter combed the city of Staunton last July After Orlando and his cousin broke away from police.
Derrick Barbour entered a guilty plea in January, and is serving a year in jail. Twenty-year-old Orlando Lamont Barbour went to trial on two counts of assaulting an officer, which are both felonies.
Orlando Barbour turned himself in, two days after the failed manhunt. The incident began when Staunton police were called to Montgomery Hall Park for a report of several shots fired.
No guns were found, and the defense says those "shots" were actually fireworks. But one officer testified that Orlando Barbour pushed him to the ground during a search, in an effort to get away.
Another officer said he was kicked in the head while trying to hold onto Barbour's leg. The two Staunton officers suffered only minor scrapes.
Barbour's attorney says this is a case of resisting arrest, not assault.
Judge Humes Franklin will not hand down his decision until he sees a pre-sentencing report.
Barbour remains free on bond.
