Trial begins in Bolingbrook police shooting incident

JOLIET – Lawyers say a man was insane when he struck a Bolingbrook cop with a steel pole before he was shot by another officer.

Levan C. Davis, 22, is charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery for the Aug. 7, 2013 incident. He faces a bench trial this week before Judge Dave Carlson.

"We will be using the insanity defense. Dr. Randi Zoot will testify Mr. Davis couldn't appreciate the criminality of his conduct," Assistant Will County Public Defender Todd Lenzie said.

Robert Davis testified he called police that morning to his home in the 300 block of Walnut Circle because his son was off his medication and agitated over a missing remote control.

Robert Davis spoke briefly with officers Jason Mitchem and Eli Limacher in the driveway before Levan Davis opened the garage door.

Limacher said he told the young man to put his hands on a nearby car and moved forward to grab his right hand when he refused. Levan Davis turned and grabbed a hollow 4-foot galvanized pipe near the garage door before Limacher could back up.

"He started to raise the pipe above his head. I was going for my pistol [because] I was in fear for my life. He held it in both hands and swung it over his head the way you would an axe," Limacher testified.

Limacher remembered a "large white flash" and being unable to see after he was struck, but he remained conscious.

"I heard a very gut-wrenching 'pipe to head' sound. You can't describe it as anything else," Mitchem testified. "As he brought the pipe up for a second strike, I shot him twice."

Davis was struck in the upper left arm and back and spent a week in the hospital. Limacher, who was wearing a police ballcap, received nine staples to close the severe laceration to his head, he testified.

"Why didn't you use your Taser," Lenzie asked Mitchem.

"The pipe was deadly force. I'd use deadly force against deadly force," the 7-year-veteran answered.

The trial is scheduled to continue later this week.