The 52-year-old volunteer fire chief from Freemansburg pulled a gun and pointed it toward a borough police officer and the target of a midday July 11 traffic stop who was being taken into custody after running off, court papers say.
Donald Richard Wilcox Jr., of the 400 block of Main Street, was arraigned Tuesday morning before District Judge Nicholas Englesson on charges of firearm not to be carried without a license, recklessly endangering another person and improper use of emergency lights. He was released on $5,000 unsecured bail pending a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled 1 p.m. Sept. 1 in Englesson’s court in Bethlehem.
In addition to being the department’s chief, Wilcox is a borough councilman.
About 12:30 p.m. July 11, a borough officer made a traffic stop near Freemansburg Avenue and Washington Street, the Northampton County District Attorney’s Office says in court papers.
Wilcox was driving in the area and “took it upon himself to stop in a location he could view the traffic stop on Washington Street and activate his red emergency lights contained on his personal vehicle due to his association with the Freemansburg Volunteer Fire Company,” a Northampton County detective wrote in court papers. “He was not requested or directed to provide any type of assistance during this incident.”
The person who was pulled over took off running southwest across Cambria Street and Wilcox began to follow with his emergency lights activated, court papers say. The person ran through a parking lot and across Pembroke Road onto a sidewalk on the north side of the street, court papers say.
As the officer went to place the person into custody there, Wilcox took a gun that was under the clothing covering his lower back and pointed it in the direction of the officer and the person who had fled, court papers say. The police vehicle camera as well as the officer’s body camera recorded this, court papers say.
On Aug. 3, the county detective confirmed Wilcox did not have a license to carry a concealed weapon, court papers say.
Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck said a thousand things could go wrong when someone who is not a police officer gets involved in an ongoing law enforcement effort.
“It presents a very dangerous situation,” he told lehighvalleylive.com on Tuesday morning.
The person getting involved doesn’t have the training, the ability to communicate directly with the officer or complete knowledge of the situation, Houck said. With a third person involved, the officer suddenly has to worry about that person’s safety as well as that of the person who was fleeing, Houck said. And with the third person introducing a weapon into the scenario, it gets even trickier, he said.
Sometimes, departments have policies that state when an officer should not pursue someone who runs off, but if the third person becomes involved, suddenly the officer has to join the chase, Houck said.
The only thing a third person should do in a situation such as the July 11 incident is pick up their phone and call 911, Houck said.
“Our volunteers have a very important function as long as they stay in the confines of that volunteer activity,” Houck said of such firefighters. Once they introduce a weapon into police activity “just increases the danger level,” Houck said.
Wilcox declined to comment.
Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.
Tony Rhodin can be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com.
"Stop" - Google News
August 18, 2020 at 10:51PM
https://ift.tt/315tEuC
Volunteer fire chief charged with pulling gun after target of traffic stop flees - lehighvalleylive.com
"Stop" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KQiYae
https://ift.tt/2WhNuz0
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Volunteer fire chief charged with pulling gun after target of traffic stop flees - lehighvalleylive.com"
Post a Comment