Trial begins for Portsmouth officer charged with shooting burglary suspect in back

PORTSMOUTH — In the time since Officer Jeremy Durocher shot a fleeing burglary suspect in the back six years ago, he’s been called a hero by police, and a criminal by prosecutors.

Durocher — who’d been on the job less than six months when he shot Deontrace Ward — was cleared of all wrongdoing by investigators. The officer also was later awarded a medal of valor and named employee of the month. To this day, he remains employed by the Portsmouth police department.

But on Monday, Durocher, 37, went on trial in Portsmouth Circuit Court on charges of aggravated malicious wounding and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. The trial is expected to last two to three days.

Prosecutors have alleged Durocher was under no threat of bodily harm when he fired the shots. But defense attorney Don Scott said there’s no evidence the officer acted with malice, which is required in order to convict him of the charges.

Durocher was one of several Portsmouth officers who responded to a burglary in progress on Oct. 29, 2017 in the 1100 block of Tatem Avenue.

Body camera video played during the opening day of his trial shows Durocher arriving at the scene, searching the area, then running as yells for the suspect to stop and fires multiple shots. He also can be heard yelling repeatedly that the burglar had a gun.

Ward, then 18, was shot three times in the back and shoulder. He underwent surgery and spent about a week in the hospital.

The first witness called to testify Monday was Ward, who pleaded guilty to armed burglary and other related charges in 2018, was sentenced to six years in prison and has since been released. In 2020, Ward reached a settlement with the City of Portsmouth, which agreed to pay him $200,000 after he sued.

Wearing a dark suit and tie, Ward admitted to his role in the burglary but denied doing anything to put Durocher or the other officers in danger.

“Were you threatening the officer at that point in any manner?” Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Warman asked Ward. “No,” he replied.

“What were you trying to do?” Warman asked. “Get away,” Ward said.

Also testifying Monday was Officer James Clark, who told jurors he’d just arrived at the scene and was getting out of his patrol car when he heard the first shots.

Clark said he saw the suspect jump over a fence as he was fleeing the area. The officer also said he saw him “making moves toward his waistband” as he was running.

“It looked like he was either trying to tuck something in, or take something out, of his waistband,” Clark said.

Clark ran to Ward after he fell face-first to the ground, and helped take him into custody. The officer said he found a gun at the bottom of one of Ward’s pants legs. The weapon was fully loaded and had a bullet in the chamber, he said.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com