The man who is charged with firing shots at police officers in Erlanger last month had his case bound over to a Grand Jury Tuesday.
Jacob Julick, handcuffed in pink jumpsuit, was bound over to a Grand Jury for possible indictment on several charges, including three counts of attempted murder. Julick is charged with firing at police officers in Erlanger and attempting to ram a police cruiser in Covington in separate incidents last month (photo by Mark Hansel) Click to enlarge.
Kenton County District Judge Ann Ruttle determined there was probable cause for Jacob Julick to be held to answer for three counts of attempted murder of a police officer.
The Grand Jury will also determine if Julick should be indicted on charges of 1st degree Fleeing Police, two counts of Wanton Endangerment in the 1st degree, Possession of a Handgun by a Convicted Felon and Persistent Felony Offender in the 1st degree.
Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders said he expects the Grand Jury to consider the case in the next 60 days.
“They’ll have the option to indict Julick on those charges – or possibly any number of other charges – the investigation is ongoing, by both the Erlanger Police Department and the Covington Police Department,” Sanders said. “We will make sure we have a case good and ready to go by the time we take it to the Grand Jury.”
In court Tuesday, Erlanger Police Det. Tom Loos described the incident that began Julick’s nearly three-week evasion of arrest that culminated with his June 25 arrest following a S.W.A.T. standoff in Westwood.
Loos said Julick was a passenger in a car that was pulled over by a Lakeside Park-Crestview Hills police officer at a Speedway gas station on Dixie Highway in Erlanger on the morning of June 6.
While the female officer who conducted the traffic stop was verifying identification, Loos said Julick, who had a warrant for parole violation, fled from the car.
“She was aware that he fled and heard a pop-pop sound that she realized later were gunshots,” Loos said. “As he fled from the car, he took several steps, and then he turned with the gun in his hand took a two-handed grip and then fired.”
At that time, another Lakeside Park-Crestview Hills Police officer, who was headed south on Dixie Highway, observed a man running as the first officer was calling in about the fleeing suspect on her radio.
Sanders
Loos said that officer diverted his cruiser and pulled up into a driveway where the man he believed to be the suspect was fleeing.
“As he was pulling up the driveway, he saw Jacob Julick turn towards him, again take that two-handed shooting position while moving backwards and up the driveway and fire multiple rounds in his direction,” Loos said. “Both officers backed their cars into cover positions and assumed cover and waited for their back up.”
The call of shots fired triggered a response from multiple agencies. Despite an extensive search, the suspect could not be located.
The driver of the vehicle Julick was a passenger in identified him and confirmed the officers’ accounts that he had fired at them.
The third charge of attempted murder of a police officer stems from a June 22 incident in Covington during which Julick allegedly tried to ram a police car.
The officer involved in that incident described a high-speed chase through the streets of Covington and into a shopping center in Latonia. According to the officer, Julick pulled into a dead-end street and was blocked in by her patrol car.
The officer said Julick headed toward the cruiser at a high rate of speed, estimated at about 45 miles-per-hour, and she had to move her vehicle out of the way quickly to avoid a collision.
Julick again managed to escape and remained on the run until he was captured by a team that included U.S. Marshals and the Cincinnati S.W.A.T. team in Westwood.
Sanders said that he expects the Grand Jury to indict Julick, and sometime after that, he will appear in Circuit Court.
“Depending on which judge he draws, the case could be set for pretrial conference or for trial,” Sanders said. “Some of our judges set cases for trial right from the arraignment, others set them for pretrial conference first.”
Jacob Julick, shown here at the time of his arrest following hours-long S.W.A.T. standoff in Cincinnati’s Westwood neighborhood. (provided photo).
Julick is being held on a $1 million cash bond.
“This is a very dangerous individual,’ Sanders said. “Obviously this manhunt went on for a lot longer than we wanted it to, but I’m glad he was eventually able to be taken into custody without any injury to any law enforcement officer.”
The most serious charges Julick faces are the three counts of attempted murder, which normally carry a sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison.
“However, with his status as a persistent felony offender in the first degree, if he is convicted, it would lead to an increased punishment of 20 to 50 years, or life in prison,” Sanders said. “Under Kentucky law, numerical sentences cap out at 70 years, so if the jury were to see fit to give him a number years, even if that went above 70 years, the judge would reduce it.”
Sanders said there is no doubt that Julick intentionally shot at police.
“I don’t know what he was thinking, (it was) certainly a foolish way to go,” Sanders said. “He was wanted on a parole violation that probably would have meant at most, a few months in prison, maybe back to a drug treatment center like the one he walked away from. He’s facing a realistic possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.”
There have also been three people charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution in regard to this case. Those are misdemeanor offenses, so they will not face indictment, but the investigation into how Julick was able to evade arrest for so long is ongoing.
“We certainly believe that there were more than just three people helping Mr. Julick stay on the run as long as he was,” Sanders said.
The case is expected to go to trial some time in 2020.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
