Montgomery Man Not Guilty of Battery in Oswego Walmart Altercation

The criminal trial of a Montgomery man who shoved an off-duty Kendall County Sheriff's deputy on Super Bowl Sunday in February ended this week with a not guilty verdict.

Jason Thurmond was found not guilty of battery Tuesday for shoving the officer at the Oswego Walmart on Feb. 5, 2012, according to Kendall County court documents.

The trial began on Monday this week when defense attorney Richard Irvin questioned French’s actions, according to the Beacon News. In assessing French’s behavior that day, Irvin pointed out French didn’t identify himself as a police officer until after his gun was drawn. He also never attempted to quiet down other customers, nor did he offer to help Nicole Thurmond, wife of Jason Thurmond, the paper reported.

Kendall County Sheriff's Deputy Craig French, a department veteran who serves as the public information officer, was also in line and he and Thurmond exchanged words. French made sarcastic comments to Thurmond’s wife while she waited at the register for her husband.

The exchange escalated into a shoving match. Thurmond has admitted to shoving French to get him away from his wife, who was nine months pregnant with the couple's daughter. It was then, he said, that French pulled his gun.

911 tapes and security camera footage of the incident made available to Patch through a Freedom of Information Act request depict a scene of mass confusion, with French only revealing he was a sheriff's deputy after pulling his weapon.

The sheriff's office is conducting an internal investigation into the incident and results were to be released after the criminal trial of Thurmond.