Tyereh Dontrell House pleaded guilty to 4th-degree assault after an ambulance camera caught him on tape launching a big piece of concrete at the head of a Hennepin County paramedic in July.

RELATED: Video captures violent assault on Hennepin County EMS ambulance crew

He was sentenced to nine months in jail, with probation.

Attorney Chuck Ramsay, who was not connected to the case, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that House, under current state law, could have been charged with 2^nd-degree assault, but said there could be a couple plausible reasons why prosecutors avoided the higher-level criminal charge.

“In January, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that our current jury instruction erroneously describes what is a dangerous weapon,” said Ramsay. “And, until they fix that jury instruction many people will be reluctant to use it.”

Ramsay said prosecutors also might have thought it would be hard to convince a jury the concrete slab was a weapon.

“Whether a piece of concrete is a dangerous weapon is up for debate. That’s a fact question,” said Ramsay. “And, two, if they did pursue that it could get tied up in the courts for years.”

If a suspect is convicted of 2nd-degree assault, the prison time is one year and one day.