Lower Gwynedd Police Department. Photo by James Short.
Multiple felony charges have been made against the man who was involuntarily committed for evaluation
One North Carolina man, suffering from a psychotic break, had interactions with Lower Gwynedd Police back in April 2024 that resulted in felony charges.
The man, 23, of Charlotte, N.C., was reported by many residents in the Ambler and Lower Gwynedd Township areas on Sunday, April 14, police said. After being unable to locate him several times, police said witnesses reported a suspicious male walking south in the northbound lane of the Route 309 Expressway around 6:07 p.m. that day.
Lower Gwynedd Township Police Department responded to the calls, attempting to locate him in the area of the Ambler Area YMCA, but were unable to intercept him. The man was next seen on the property of the Dow Chemical Paint Quality Institute, located immediately behind the YMCA, on McKean Road in Ambler, reports said.
According to reports, the man crouched behind shrubs in an attempt to conceal himself but was verbally engaging with police. The man said to police that he was “brought to the area by unknown subjects who have been chasing him all day.”
The man, police reported, continued to walk away from them. He was ordered to stop, said reports, but refused and continued, walking backwards away from police.
Police said the man “became increasingly resistant both verbally and by his actions.” Reports stated that they attempted to restrain the man, but that he began to throw punches with a closed fist into one officer’s head. Other authorities attempted to assist in the restraining resulting in a “considerable struggle,” said police.
The man was placed into handcuffs, but he continued to resist both verbally and physically, and at one point bit a sergeant, said reports. The man, once in custody, said that men were chasing him, that he was given drugs at a bar the previous night, and that the “guys brought him to this area and were after him,” police said.
Unable to provide information about who was chasing him or why, police said that they assessed his high level of excitement and agitation rotating rapidly from high to low meant he was likely having a mental health crisis, said reports. The man agreed to be taken to a hospital by ambulance. Police accompanied the man to Abington Hospital for treatment. He was placed under a Section 302 Involuntary Mental Health Evaluation while in the hospital.
As multiple officers sustained injuries, including cuts, scrapes, contusions, abrasions, and musculoskeletal injuries to the hands, fingers, back, and spine. The incident resulted in nine felony counts of Aggravated Assault, for attempts to cause serious bodily injury to designated individuals, as well as four counts of resisting arrest, and four counts of simple assault.
The man posted a Bond Signature bail for $5,000 and is scheduled for court on Sept. 27 at 8:30 a.m. before Magisterial District Judge Suzan Leonard.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
Due to the mental health condition of the defendant, the name has been withheld by Wissahickon Now at this time.
