ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – On Thursday, a judge found probable cause for a charge against a Delta County man accused of shooting his former father-in-law.
On January 21, a shooting was reported at the home of 28-year-old Jacob Cronick. Cronick had finalized his divorce from Alexandria Parrotta weeks before. During Cronick’s preliminary exam, she testified that she was stopping by his house to pick up some of her personal property, including a tractor.
A group of men accompanied Alexandria in separate vehicles. Three of the men testified they were there to provide a trailer to haul the tractor and to help her move boxes. The other man was Alexandria’s father, Eric Parrotta, who said due to a health condition, he could not provide physical labor. However, he testified that he wanted to ensure the tractor was running properly.
“The two of you have had a bad relationship since the divorce commenced, is that right?” Defense Attorney Trenton Stupak asked Eric Parrotta.
“I’d say that’s fair,” Parrotta answered.
When Eric Parrotta arrived at Cronick’s residence, the two men got into a verbal argument. Parrotta testified that he bragged about a recent lawsuit he had won against Cronick.
“You told Mr. Cronick that you could, for $15 a day, post his face on a billboard, did you not?” Stupak asked Parrotta.
“I think I said something something like that,” Parrotta said.
“Sure,” Stupak said, “and you said, ‘Smile for the camera.’ Is that what you told him?”
“If you say so,” said Parrotta.
“You don’t remember that?” Stupak asked.
“I don’t remember that,” Parrotta replied.
At that point, Cronick told Parrotta he wanted him to leave.
“He chooses who comes on his property and who stays, right?” Stupak asked.
“Yes,” answered Parrotta.
“At that time you had no right to be on his property and he told you, in no uncertain terms, that he wanted you off the property,” said Stupak.
“Yeah,” Parrotta said.
Cronick had also taken out his phone, which Parrotta slapped out of his hands, as shown in security camera footage. Cronick grabbed Parrotta’s throat and pinned him against a vehicle. One of the other men, Alexandria’s coworker Cody Richards, then put his arm around Cronick from behind.
“I pulled him off and said, ‘If you let him go, I’ll let you go,'” Richards testified.
After the men were separated, Cronick shot Parrotta in the abdomen, causing him to be hospitalized for three days.
Delta County Road Patrol Sergeant Mike Groleau responded to the scene shortly after. While there, he initially made a statement that the incident sounded like self-defense. However, after viewing footage of the entire incident, he changed his mind.
“It looked like to me he was able to get away and actually retreated towards his residence, turned around, and went back towards Mr. Parrotta,” Groleau said at the preliminary exam.
The judge determined there was probable cause for the charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder or by strangulation. He said that the self-defense argument and other factors would have to be decided by a jury.
Before adjourning the court, the judge reduced Cronick’s bond from $250,000 to $75,000, citing his work history with the city and lack of criminal record.
The case is being bound over to circuit for a jury trial.
