A routine day at state Rep. K.C. Tomlinson’s Bensalem district office turned chaotic on Tuesday, June 9, when police say a 65-year-old man burst in, threatened staff and scattered paperwork before returning with a gas can outside the building.
Employees told investigators they feared he might set the building on fire after he retrieved the can from his vehicle and walked around the exterior. Authorities identified the suspect as Donald Ambrose and say he was taken into custody and charged with terroristic threats, harassment and disorderly conduct.
According to a post by Bensalem Township Police, officers were dispatched to the office at 2424 Bristol Road after staff reported that Ambrose had "removed paperwork from office desks and threw it around" and made threats toward employees. Police say Ambrose left the scene briefly to fetch a gas can from his truck before returning to the area, then went to the police station to make a report, where officers later located him and took him into custody.
Local television coverage and court documents reviewed by NBC10 Philadelphia say Ambrose grew increasingly aggressive inside the office and pointed at a second employee while telling the worker, "You're dead." NBC10 reports he was arrested and charged with two counts each of terroristic threats, disorderly conduct and harassment, and that a preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 18.
Rep. Tomlinson, who was in Harrisburg for a voting session when the incident unfolded, later thanked police and praised her staff for staying focused on helping residents, calling the episode "unsettling" in remarks to Patch. "We can disagree on issues, but we must do better as human beings, it’s never okay to destroy property or threaten someone’s life," she said.
Charges and next steps
Magisterial District Judge Joseph P. Falcone set bail at 10% of $200,000, and Ambrose was remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility, according to the department’s Facebook post. Local coverage and court records, as reported by NBC10 Philadelphia, show his preliminary hearing is set for June 18 at 1:15 p.m. The department’s post also notes that it will not provide additional information at this time.
What to watch
The case will move through the Bucks County courts, and public filings should reveal whether prosecutors seek any felony enhancements or additional charges. For now, Tomlinson’s district staff are being credited with a quick call to police, and the Bristol Road office remains a busy hub for constituent services in the 18th Legislative District.
