A Delco jury must decide if a stabbing after the Eagles Super Bowl win was attempted murder or self-defense

As Eagles fans across the region took the streets to revel in the team’s Super Bowl win last year, one, armed with a knife and hurling verbal threats, started a fight in Prospect Park that nearly turned deadly, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Now, a jury must decide if Jeffrey Zimmerman’s actions that night constituted attempted murder, as prosecutors contend, or if he was acting in self-defense when he stabbed a man after he was knocked to the ground during the brawl.

Zimmerman, 38, of Holmes, has also been charged with aggravated assault and related crimes in connection with the assault.

Assistant District Attorney Danielle Kitzinger said Wednesday that Zimmerman was the clear aggressor. He was the one who initiated the conflict that night after threatening Jason Roman and his friends with a knife, she said.

The group, which included children, was out walking in Prospect Park after watching the Eagles’ win at a home nearby.

But Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark Much, told jurors Zimmerman believed his life was in danger when he slashed Roman just above his left eye to try to stop the melee as he was being attacked by multiple people.

“This case is about a choice, a choice between being a victim or a survivor,” Much said. “The evidence you’ll hear will tell a story about a person pushed to the limit, forced to make a split-second decision to protect himself.”

Much urged the jurors to find Zimmerman not guilty of all charges.

The stabbing happened as Roman’s friends were trying to separate Zimmerman from Roman, whom Zimmerman had grabbed and punched first, the prosecutor said.

Video played in court showed Zimmerman drive past the group as they walked in the street, hurling obscenities at them and ordering them to get on the sidewalk.

Zimmerman then pulled away. The conflict could have ended there, Kitzinger said.

Instead, Zimmerman slowed his car and confronted the group a second time, challenging them to a fight while waving a 9-inch, curved karambit knife.

A member of the group, Michael Dockery, filmed the encounter on his iPhone. That video, played in court, showed Dockery telling Zimmerman he would see him later at Zimmerman’s house. Dockery, an Upper Darby police officer, was off-duty at the time and in plainclothes.

Much said Zimmerman, a father of three, perceived that as a threat to his and his family’s safety. Dockery, however, testified that he was referring to the police report he planned to file because Zimmerman was threatening to attack him. Dockery testified that he was not threatening Zimmerman or his family.

But Much said the officer’s words motivated Zimmerman to park his car and confront the group.

“He wants to find one man, to find out what beef he has that he’s coming to his house,” Much said.

Zimmerman approached the group with his hands in his pockets, prosecutors said. When he got close to Roman, he grabbed him, and the two men exchanged punches.

Dockery testified that he intervened, pulling Zimmerman to the ground and flipping him onto his stomach to free Roman from his grip. That’s when Roman said he had been stabbed, and his friends noticed the blood pouring from a wound on his head.

Zimmerman initially refused to leave, prosecutors said, but later left after Roman’s friends called 911. Prospect Park Police Chief Dave Madonna, on patrol that night, pulled Zimmerman over minutes later and took him into custody.

The trial is expected to last through Friday before Judge Mary Alice Brennan.