HOUSTON (AP) - A jury has acquitted a Houston-area police officer of aggravated assault in the shooting an unarmed aspiring baseball player mistakenly believed to be an auto theft suspect.

The Harris County jurors deliberated for nearly four hours before finding Bellaire police Sgt. Jeffrey Cotton not guilty Tuesday of aggravated assault by a public servant in the 2008 shooting of Robert Tolan.

Cotton could have received up to a life sentence if convicted. The officer had told jurors the shooting was justified because he believed his life was in danger, but prosecutors said Cotton was reckless.

The shooting prompted claims of racial profiling, which Bellaire police have denied. Tolan is black; Cotton is white.

Tolan is the son of former major league baseball player Bobby Tolan.

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