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Man arrested for attempted murder in Parachute

Ryan Summerlin
rsummerlin@postindependent.com
Marvin Leroy Jackson

Marvin Leroy Jackson was arrested on attempted murder Saturday after Parachute police say he ran over a man during a fight.

Parachute police went to a parking lot on 200 Colorado Avenue for reports of two men fighting. Dispatch then aired that one man had reportedly been run over by a black Hyundai Sonata.

The two men were still at the scene when officers arrived. Jackson, 33, said that the other man, 36-year-old Jonathan Ford, had jumped in front of his vehicle and that Jackson had hit him.



An officer could see Ford lying on the ground. He didn’t have a shirt on and was holding a shirt to his head, which was bleeding severely, according to an officer’s account.

Blood was streaked from his face down to his chest. His elbow was bleeding and looked to have either jagged pieces of skin or glass covered in blood, the officer wrote. An abrasion on the lower part of his back had broken the skin, and one of his shoes was missing.



Witnesses at the parking lot told police that the two men were in separate cars and got out and started fighting. Witnesses pulled the two apart.

Ford then parked his car and started walking toward Jackson, the witnesses told police. Then Jackson ran the man over with his car, they said.

A witness said, “Jonathan kept taunting Marvin by telling him to shoot him,” according to an affidavit.

The police report gives no information on what the fight might have been about or the two men’s relationship. Parachute Police Chief Cary Parmenter did not respond to messages from the Post Independent.

Taking measurements at the scene, a Parachute officer estimated the car, after hitting Ford, traveled another 230 feet or more before stopping. Officers found no marks indicating breaking, skidding or swerving where Ford was hit.

The victim was taken to Grand River Health for treatment. So was Jackson, who was complaining of wrist pain. At the hospital, the Parachute officer was filling out paperwork when he learned that the hospital had discharged Jackson, who was supposed to be in custody.

Police later went to a residence, finding Jackson wearing a soft cast, and arrested him on charges of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault and vehicular assault, all felonies.

Jackson’s bail is listed as $50,000 on the Garfield County sheriff’s inmate list. He is scheduled to appear in court March 29 for filing of charges.


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