POMEROY — Judge Fred W. Crow III has denied the request of a Gallipolis man shot last summer by a Middleport police officer to be released to a probationary alternative program.

Meanwhile, a civil action James Gray IV filed against the Village of Middleport and its former patrolman, Steven Koebel, has been transferred to Federal court.

James Gray IV requested that he be permitted to complete the Southeastern Probationary Treatment Alternative (SEPTA) program in Nelsonville, instead of completing the remaining 14 months of his 18-month sentence. He is now a prisoner at the London Correctional Institution.

“The offense of failure to comply was committed under circumstances not likely to recur,” Gray said in his motion for judicial release, filed by his defense counsel, Trenton Cleland. “Defendant regrets his conduct, accepts full responsibility for his action and feels genuine remorse.”

“The offense at issue involved alcohol, and (Gray) feels he would greatly benefit from treatment.”

Gray admitted last summer he had been drinking when he led Koebel in pursuit through Middleport and on Ohio 7 to Pomeroy. Koebel shot Gray after the pursuit had ended, because, he said, he believed Gray was about to fire a gun at him. No evidence was ever presented that Gray was armed, and Gray denies that he had a gun on his person or in his vehicle the night he was shot.

Koebel has resigned his position with the Middleport police department.

Gray was briefly hospitalized for a gunshot wound to his mouth, and in September, he filed a civil action against the village, the police department, and Koebel. That case has been transferred from Common Pleas Court to the U.S. District Court, partly because Gray alleges Koebel violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The Columbus law firm, Weston Hurd, and the Cincinnati firm, Faulkner and Tepe, represent the village and Koebel, respectively.