PA trooper "entirely justified" to fire at driver in Allentown traffic stop: DA
ALLENTOWN, PA (CBS) -- A Pennsylvania State Police trooper was "entirely justified" in shooting at a driver during a traffic stop in June, the Lehigh County District Attorney wrote in a review of the case Tuesday.
Neither of the two shots the trooper fired on June 16 hit the driver, a 47-year-old Allentown man, state police and District Attorney Jim Martin said.
Martin's review says an Allentown police detective observed the man selling crack to a confidential informant on June 13.
Then on the 16th, the same detective was part of a detail with uniformed Allentown and Pennsylvania State Police. The detail also included Allentown police vice detectives in unmarked vehicles and plain clothes.
The informant told police the man was in the 200 block of 6th Street but was leaving to make a drug delivery, Martin said. The detective then went to that block to continue surveillance on the man.
The man then got into a Ford Fusion sedan and drove away. Two other vice officers in an unmarked Chevrolet Cruze began tailing him.
Officers saw several traffic violations from the Ford and radioed to a state trooper and Allentown detective (who were in the same state police cruiser) that they should make a traffic stop.
During the stop, the state police cruiser pulled in front of the Ford and the unmarked Chevy was parked behind the Ford. The trooper got out of the marked cruiser and began telling the driver not to move.
The driver then moved forward and stuck the trooper, Martin said. Then the Ford backed up and hit the Chevy.
The trooper fired two shots at the Ford driver to protect himself, Martin said.
The driver was not hit but the Ford swerved to the right, drove up onto the curb and around the state police cruiser. It then went toward the intersection of South 3rd and West Union Streets. The trooper chased after it through the streets of east Allentown.
During the chase, the Ford was driving the wrong way on the Hamilton Street Bridge. He struck a Honda HR-V driven by a civilian and another state police vehicle.
The trooper in that state police car then struck the Ford to finally get it to come to a stop.
The driver was pulled from the vehicle and found with crack cocaine and marijuana. He was taken to St. Luke's University Hospital- Bethlehem Campus for treatment.
The man is charged with four counts of aggravated assault, fleeing an officer, multiple drug charges and 13 motor vehicle offenses. He is in the Lehigh County Jail after he was unable to post $200,000 bail.