NORRISTOWN — A road rage incident that resulted in gunfire in Abington Township has a Philadelphia man potentially facing imprisonment for assault.
Scott Thomas, 23, from the 5500 block of Ardleigh Street, admitted in Montgomery County Court to a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in relation to the April 5, 2023, traffic altercation that caused another man to suffer a minor laceration to his hip from a gunshot.
Judge Thomas C. Branca delayed Thomas's sentencing until later this year.
Thomas, represented by defense attorney Shaka Mzee Johnson, could serve several months in jail and be required to compensate the victim. The felony assault charge carries a possible maximum sentence of 10 years of court supervision.
With the aggravated assault charge, prosecutors claimed Thomas sought to cause bodily injury to another person with a deadly weapon, specifically, a loaded Glock semiautomatic .40-caliber handgun.
The investigation began around 8:23 a.m. on April 5, 2023, when Abington police responded to the area of 1575 The Fairway in the Jenkintown section of the township for a report of a roadway shooting.
“Officers found the victim outside of his delivery truck. The victim had a laceration on his forehead and a laceration on his right hip. The injuries did not seem to be serious,” Abington Detective Robert Hill Jr. wrote in the arrest affidavit.
The victim said he was driving northbound on The Fairway when a white van passed him on the passenger side of his delivery truck and then stopped in front of his vehicle, forcing him to stop. The victim told police the operator of the van, later identified as Thomas, got out of the van and approached the driver’s side of the victim’s truck.
“The victim said the man was yelling profanities at him and began reaching his hand into his pocket. The victim said the suspect then took out a handgun from his pocket and pointed it at him,” Hill alleged in the criminal complaint.
“The victim jumped down from his seat, which was elevated and the driver door was now open, and tackled the suspect. During the altercation, the victim was struck in the forehead by the suspect with the handgun. The suspect then fired a round from his handgun that struck the victim in his right hip,” Hill added.
Investigators examined the victim’s clothing and noticed an apparent bullet hole in the victim’s belt, court papers indicate. Detectives said it appeared the bullet went through the victim’s belt before “causing a minor laceration to his right hip.”
At the scene, authorities recovered a .40-caliber casing and two Apple Air Pods that did not belong to the victim.
At 9:59 a.m. an employee of a nearby business reported to police he observed a male, operating a white work van, in the area of the previous shooting incident and he appeared to be searching the ground for something. When police returned to the scene they encountered Thomas who admitted to being involved in the earlier altercation and he was taken into custody, according to court documents.
Thomas informed the police that he legally owned the handgun and said it was in his van. He also said he had come back to the area to try to find his lost Air Pods.
When he was questioned by detectives, Thomas stated that he was “cut off by the victim’s truck while driving on The Fairway” and he then pulled in front of the victim’s truck and stopped his van, according to court documents.
Thomas said he approached the driver’s side of the victim’s truck to talk to the victim about the incident and the victim yelled swear words at him.
According to court documents, Thomas claimed that the victim jumped from his truck onto him and that they had a physical fight in the roadway.
“(Thomas) said he was pushed by the victim to the ground, which caused his handgun to fall out of his pants pocket,” Hill wrote in the arrest affidavit. “When (Thomas) picked up the gun a round was accidentally discharged.”
Thomas told detectives that he went back to his van and left the area and stated he did not know the victim was hit by the discharged round. Thomas admitted that he did not call police to report the incident.
After watching security video from a nearby building and the statements provided by the victim and Thomas and other witnesses, detectives concluded “it is clear that (Thomas) initiated the altercation with the victim.”
A charge of simple assault is set to be dropped against Thomas at time of sentencing.
Charges of possession of a prohibited weapon and recklessly endangering another person were previously withdrawn against Thomas at a lower court hearing.
