NORRISTOWN — A man from Upper Moreland Township was found guilty by a jury of using a handgun during a “road rage” incident, causing fear to a woman and her 18-year-old daughter who were in another vehicle.
Mohammed Al Jumaili, 29, of the 3500 block of West Moreland Road, was found guilty of two charges each of making terroristic threats, committing simple assault and endangering another person recklessly in relation to the July 13, 2022, traffic altercation that took place at Welsh and Twining roads in the Willow Grove section of Upper Moreland.
The jury took about 40 minutes to reach a decision after hearing one day of testimony.
Judge Steven T. O’Neill postponed sentencing to allow court officials to finish a background investigation report about Al Jumaili.
Al Jumaili was allowed to stay out on bail while awaiting sentencing. He had to give up his passport and all firearms as a condition of bail.
“This is a road rage case,” said Assistant District Attorney Blair Rohlfing. “I think anytime someone pulls a gun on somebody it affects them and they respond in the way you expect a victim to respond. It terrified them. They are still to this day pretty frightened.”
Rohlfing pledged to push for a jail term for Al Jumaili.
Defense attorney George Griffith Jr. represented Al Jumaili during the trial.
“I argued that it was a vehicular incident and did not escalate to the level of road rage,” Griffith said after the trial.
During the trial, Griffith suggested the female driver of the second vehicle provoked the traffic altercation and that Al Jumaili felt threatened because of her actions, leading him to display the firearm.
Al Jumaili testified during the trial.
The investigation started around 11:09 a.m. July 13 when Upper Moreland police went to the area of Welsh and Twining roads following a report of a man driving a blue sport utility vehicle who had pointed a gun at the female caller, according to a criminal complaint filed by Upper Moreland Detective Francis Joseph Gallagher Jr.
The suspect’s vehicle then fled westward toward Blair Mill Road, and police were given a partial license plate number which linked the vehicle to Al Jumaili, according to court documents. Police later found the vehicle in front of a nearby Lowes home improvement store, and Al Jumaili was found inside the store.
Al Jumaili admitted to possessing a firearm and said the firearm was in his 2021 Kia vehicle. He willingly retrieved a black and silver Colt .45-caliber pistol from the vehicle and handed it over to police.
The pistol contained a magazine loaded with six .45-caliber rounds of ammunition, Gallagher alleged. Al Jumaili had a valid license to carry a firearm at the time.
The victim identified Al Jumaili as the person who pointed the gun at her, according to the arrest affidavit.
The victim told police she and her daughter were on their way to work on Welsh Road when a blue SUV driven by Al Jumaili cut in front of her from Kimball Avenue as she was driving in the right lane. The woman said she couldn't move over and didn't let the SUV in front of her, and that the SUV driver became angry and called her a derogatory name, according to the arrest affidavit.
The victim said that Al Jumaili chose to keep driving next to her while they were both going west on Welsh Road towards Twining Road.
While they were stuck in traffic, the defendant took out a gun and pointed it at her and her daughter, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, saying something about his neighborhood. The woman said she was very afraid for her life. She ducked down and her daughter reclined her seat to avoid being shot.
The victim’s daughter told detectives that she was scared the defendant was going to shoot her and her mother.
During questioning by detectives, Al Jumaili said he was going to Lowes to buy gardening tools. He said that while turning onto Moreland Road from his apartment complex, a silver sedan cut him off just before a construction zone. Al Jumaili said the people in the sedan began gesturing rudely with their hands out the window.
He admitted that he showed the occupants of the silver vehicle his gun right after they cut him off. The two vehicles then stopped at a red light on Welsh Road at Twining Road. He took the gun out of its holster and held it up at chest level, saying, 'Don’t do that in my neighborhood.'
He said the gun was not pointing at the silver sedan, he just wanted to show them he had a gun. It had to be out of the holster so they would recognize it was a gun. He then drove away once the light turned green.
Al Jumaili stated that neither victim threatened him, displayed a weapon, or did anything else that showed they could harm him. He claimed he was afraid of their driving.
The statement said that the detective work to uncover this dangerous use of a gun was very good and they were grateful for it.
