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Press Release
Two Miami-Dade residents were convicted by a jury in federal court for being felons in possession of a firearm, after they shot at a police officer with an AK-47 rifle.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Carlos A. Canino, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, and Juan Perez, Acting Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), made the announcement.
Theodist Grimes, III, 27, and Wendell Trenell Clark, 25, both of Miami, were convicted after a nine-day trial before U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard for being felons in possession of a firearm.
According to evidence presented at trial, on April 22, 2015, Grimes and Clark, both convicted felons, along with a third male, entered a convenience store in Miami to confront two men they believed had stolen their friend's gun. After the initial confrontation, the defendants went back to their car to arm themselves with two handguns and an AK-47 rifle. Customers called 911 and Miami-Dade police officers responded.
The first officer on the scene testified that he immediately saw Grimes with a Glock handgun and grabbed him. After a brief struggle, Grimes jumped out of his shorts and sprinted away in his underwear, all of which was captured on the store surveillance video. Clark then pulled the get-away car around to pick up Grimes and led police on a high-speed chase. Unable to elude the pursuing officers, Clark maneuvered the car so that Grimes could lean out the window and open fire with the AK-47 rifle on the Miami-Dade robbery detective who was chasing them. The detective, who is also assigned as an ATF Task Force Officer, testified that Grimes fired eight to ten rounds at the detective’s car, and that he was able to pull his car out of the line of fire.
Clark and Grimes continued to flee and, after crashing their car into a pick-up truck, ran away on foot. A nearby resident watched from inside his home as Grimes jumped over the fence in his yard and discarded the AK-47 rifle in a trash can on his property. This resident then immediately ran into the street, flagged down a police officer and showed the officer where the rifle was abandoned. A perimeter was set up and aviation helped track the defendants, who were located and arrested shortly thereafter.
Grimes and Clark are currently scheduled to be sentenced on April 13, 2016.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ATF and MDPD. Mr. Ferrer also thanked the City of Miami Police Department and Miami Beach Police Department for their assistance and cooperation in this matter. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Miesha Shonta Darrough and Deputy Chief Michael Thakur.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.