CARLISLE - A Montgomery County man who led endangered multiple drivers during a high-speed police chase on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Cumberland County last year was convicted Wednesday of a battery of charges related to the chase Wednesday.
But an eight-woman, four-man jury said they didn’t see enough proof to convict Mark Davenport - who continued to resist police after crashing his car and even, at one point, allegedly fought for control of a Pennsylvania State Police corporal’s gun - of attempted homicide and aggravated assault charges.
Davenport, 33, of Elkins Park, was arrested March 4, 2021 at the end of a harrowing 15-minute chase that Cpl. Brian Milore testified played out at speeds between 100 and 125 miles per hour in western Cumberland County, only to escalate further when Davenport pulled over, turned and started driving the wrong way in the Turnpike’s eastbound lanes.
At the time, Davenport was already wanted for jumping bail on 2019 robbery and assault charges out of Connecticut.
Police there had charged Davenport with robbing a Springdale man after they met through an online escort service. Stamford police said Davenport beat the man until he lost consciousness and stole about $2,000 worth of electronic items and credit cards.
Davenport’s fugitive status was not placed on the record in this case, but it may have been behind his efforts to flee.
The Turnpike chase - which extended about 10 miles east and then continued another four miles westbound - ended when Milore spotted the white Honda Civic he’d initially sought for speeding overturned in a farm field.
But Davenport’s flight did not.
According to police reports in the case multiple airbags deployed in the car, blocking Milore’s view into the vehicle. He approached the car with gun drawn, and after Davenport refused the trooper’s order to get out, Milore pulled him out.
Outside the car, Milore said, Davenport was on his hands and knees but refusing to lay in a prone position so he could be handcuffed. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Milore’s waist and tackled him to the ground.
MIlore landed on his back with Davenport on top of him and that was when the struggle for the gun ensued until another trooper arrived on the scene. Davenport then broke off the fight and tried to flee on foot.
Davenport did not testify during the two-day trial.
But his attorney, Paul Primrose, argued to jurors that all of Davenport’s actions that day, including what he called was an attempt to disarm Milore during their fight - even though Milore testified that he was worried about getting shot - were simply part of a desperate attempt to escape, and that his client never did anything that showed an intent to hurt or kill anyone else.
The same argument, Primrose argued, applied to the car chase itself.
While Davenport endangered Milore and others by weaving around cars and trucks and changing lanes, there was no conclusive evidence - i.e. trying to make contact with Milore’s police car - that he was trying to cause the trooper to have an accident.
Police video at one point did show Davenport’s car cutting off Milore’s vehicle, but Primrose noted that the video also showed Milore had room to move onto the highway’s left shoulder, and he never appeared to have to take any sudden evasive actions to avoid a collision.
“This case is about fleeing,” Primrose summed up. “It’s not about murder.”
In the end, no shots were fired in the incident. Milore had actually holstered his gun and switched to a Taser by the time police apprehended Davenport trying to enter the car of a passer-by who had stopped along the highway’s shoulder.
Prosecutor Courtney Hair LaRue countered every action Davenport took that day was “an act of aggression... intended to cause harm,” and she said the only reason Davenport - who already had Milore on his back - ended the struggle for the gun was that other troopers had arrived.
“This defendant only let go of that firearm when he was outnumbered and out of options,” LaRue said in her closing.
The jury’s split verdict Wednesday will help Davenport evade long prison terms for attempted homicide and aggravated assault.
But he still will likely face significant jail time for his new convictions on fleeing police and trying to disarm a police officer, both third-degree felonies, and a prior record that includes assault and robbery convictions in Philadelphia and Delaware counties, not to mention the still-pending Connecticut case.
After the verdict, Primrose said he appreciated the jurors’ attention to separating out the crimes that all sides’ agreed Davenport committed that day, and the ones his client says he did not. “They paid attention,” Primrose said, “and I think those were the right verdicts.
LaRue was not immediately available for comment.
Davenport has been held in Cumberland County Prison without bail since his arrest because of the attempted homicide charge. Judge Jessica Brewbaker ordered him to remain there pending sentencing in January.
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