A man from Lower Merion Township will go to jail after he confessed to using a knife to stab another man during a fight at a residence in the township.
Brandon Charles Adger, 37, of the 200 block of Simpson Road, was given a sentence of 11½ to 23 months in the county jail after admitting to a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon related to the Aug. 14, 2023, stabbing incident. Adger will get credit for the days he spent in jail before the trial after being arrested last August.
Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered Adger to complete three years’ probation consecutively with parole, meaning Adger will be under court supervision for five years.
As a condition of the sentence, the judge directed Adger to have no contact with the victim. The judge also stated that the knife is to be surrendered to Lower Merion police “for destruction.”
The investigation started around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 14, when Lower Merion police were called to a residence in the 100 block of East County Line Road in the Ardmore section of the township for a report of a stabbing, according to a criminal complaint filed by Lower Merion Detective Andrew Rook.
In the arrest affidavit, Rook reported, “(The victim) had facial injuries as well as a stab wound to his upper right arm,” and added that the victim informed the police that he was stabbed by Adger, a male acquaintance.
Adger had left the residence before the police arrived. The victim was taken by ambulance to Lankenau Hospital to treat his injuries.
The victim explained to detectives that he was in the apartment he shared with others when Adger entered the apartment in an angry state looking for rolling papers for marijuana. According to court documents, Adger yelled at the victim, “I am going to kill you,” then punched the victim in the face.
The victim pushed Adger away and went to his bedroom. Adger followed the victim, continued to threaten him, and took one of the victim’s knives from his collection, as per the arrest affidavit.
Rook alleged that “Adger repeatedly attempted to stab (the victim) in the abdomen region of his body.”
Two other men in the apartment came to the victim’s bedroom to try to help and Adger shouted at all of them. Adger started throwing punches at the victim with the knife and “jabbed the knife” toward the victim’s face, as per the allegations by detectives.
As the victim tried to defend himself, he was cut in the right tricep. Adger then punched him in the back of the head several times before the victim's friends managed to get Adger to leave the apartment, according to the arrest affidavit.
The victim called 911, but court documents do not indicate when Adger was taken into custody.
Adger had terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person, simple assault, and harassment charges dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
