Jury finds area college student guilty of harassment for spitting on police, deputies

XENIA — A 23-year-old Detroit, Michigan, man will soon learn whether he’ll go to prison on a felony charge accusing him of spitting on police and deputies during a fight at Wilberforce University and scuffle minutes later in a hospital emergency room.

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Shawn Whitfield was convicted Aug. 6 by a Greene County Common Pleas jury of harassment with a bodily substance, the county prosecutor’s office said in a statement to News Center 7 on Wednesday. Whitfield was a Wilberforce University student at the time of the incident that began Jan. 13 at the Living Learning Center on campus and continued that same day at the Greene Memorial Hospital emergency room.

WU police dispatched to the LLC contacted Whitfield, who appeared to be highly intoxicated, according to the trial evidence.

After numerous attempts to calm Whitfield, he became disruptive and was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct. Whitfield began fighting with the WU police officer, who asked for additional police. Officers from Central State University, Xenia Police Division, Greene County Sheriff’s Office, and Cedarville Police Department responded.

Whitfield continued to fight officers -- the prosecutor’s office said more than 10 officers were involved -- and threatened to spit on them and commit physical violence.

Officers decided to take Whitfield to the hospital to ensure any medical needs were addressed. He continued to fight officers while in the ER. Hospital staff restrained him, and staff and officers attempted to verbally de-escalate Whitfield on numerous occasions, without success, according to the prosecutor’s office.

While officers were walking out of Whitfield’s hospital room, he sat up and intentionally spit at officers standing several feet away. The spit landed on one Xenia police officer’s mouth and lip area. That officer has not been identified by name.

Whitfield, at trial, told the jury he was too intoxicated to recall even being at the hospital.

After the jury delivered its verdict in Judge Michael Buckwalter’s courtroom, county Prosecutor David Hayes said, “Police officers should not have to deal with this sort of nonsense.

“This incident took over ten officers from five different police departments off the streets. This may not seem serious to some, but it is a felony offense, and the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office takes it very seriously. Police officers deserve our respect and not our contempt,” Hayes said.

Whitfield remained in the county jail Wednesday night, and sentencing had not been scheduled.

We will update this story when sentencing does occur.

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