Shreveport Man Convicted in 2010 Attack on Police Officer
A Shreveport man faces more than two decades in prison after being convicted for attacking and trying to disarm a police officer at the Shreveport Greyhound bus station in 2010.
According to the Caddo Parish District Attorney's Office, it took a seven-man, five-woman jury just under 40 minutes to find 56-year-old Lester Harrison guilty of attacking former Shreveport Police Officer Matthew Holloway in the August 2010 incident.
Holloway had responded to a report that a man with a knife refused to leave the bus station. When he tried to pat down Harrison, he was beaten in the head, face and upper body. Harrison also tried to take Holloway's service weapon.
Harrison was originally charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted disarming of a police officer and resisting an officer with force or violence. He maintained he was not guilty, and not guilty by reason of insanity.
The jury returned guilty-as-charged verdicts for attempted disarming and resisting, but instead of attempted first-degree murder, the panel convicted Harrison of attempted manslaughter, which carries a possible prison sentence of 20 years at hard labor. He also faces 2 1/2 years for the disarming conviction, and one-to-three-year sentence, with or without hard labor, plus a $2,000 fine for the resisting conviction.
Harrison returns to court July 6 for post-trial motions and sentencing. He has quite a rap sheet, too. The DA's Office says he's been arrested 24 times since 1984, with convictions for simple arson, crack cocaine possession, and possessing with intent to distribute crack cocaine.