Delco Fire Official Convicted of Hate Crime After Racist Road Rage Tirade

A Delaware County judge has found John Romano, a 48-year-old former assistant fire chief, guilty of ethnic intimidation, terroristic threats, harassment, disorderly conduct and obstructing highways after he hurled racial slurs and threats at a Black woman during a 2024 traffic dispute. Romano is scheduled to be sentenced on September 28, 2026.

The case traces back to November 21, 2024, when Romano was loading trees onto a forklift while blocking traffic in Delaware County. According to NBC10 Philadelphia, a woman driving a blue Chevy Camaro grew impatient after being stuck behind the forklift and beeped her horn at Romano. Romano allegedly responded by yelling, “Who the f*** are you beeping at? Shut up b****,” before escalating into racial slurs, telling her, “You know what n****, go get a ****** banana. I am not dealing with you today, plain and simple.”

Romano also called the woman a monkey and a porch monkey, took a photo of her license plate, and threatened to get her cited and her vehicle towed, per the outlet's reporting. He allegedly threatened to physically attack her and to find out where she lived and where she was from, and at one point allegedly asked whether he could call a Black person a racial slur. The woman called police, who responded to the scene.

Body Camera Footage Became Key Evidence

Darby Township police captured body-worn camera footage during their initial response in which Romano admitted on scene to using a racial slur, before later attempting to retract that statement, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Police said Romano claimed the woman had threatened to kill him. Romano later gave conflicting accounts of what he said, at one point insisting, “I didn't call her a n*****. I said, go get a banana, you monkey. That's what I said. So, how's that racist? She is a wild animal,” and at another point declaring, “I'll tell ya what I said, I'll say it again, it's my belief, they're all animals. I'm tired of dealing with them.”

Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Margaret J. Amoroso presided over a one-day bench trial in late July 2026 that led to the guilty verdict, the Inquirer reported. The Delaware County District Attorney's Office confirmed the judge found Romano guilty of ethnic intimidation among the other charges.

A Fire Official's Fall From Public Trust

At the time of the incident, Romano served as assistant fire chief for the volunteer Sharon Hill Fire Company, a role that placed him in a position of public trust within the community. The Sharon Hill Borough Council severed all ties with Romano and revoked his municipal access in January 2025 following his initial criminal charges, according to Haverford Patch. Romano also worked for J&P Fencing, a business he co-founded.

His arrest set off swift community backlash. Pennsylvania State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams and the Delaware County Black Caucus held a press conference calling for economic boycotts of J&P Fencing, as reported by FOX 29 Philadelphia. Court records cited by the Patch also show Romano had a lengthy prior criminal history, including harassment convictions in 2009, 2014, 2018 and 2019, a terroristic threats conviction in 2007, and a 2014 case involving witness retaliation and illegal firearm possession.

How Pennsylvania's Hate Crime Law Works

Romano's conviction highlights the mechanics of Pennsylvania's ethnic intimidation statute, codified at 18 Pa.C.S. § 2710. As explained by The Fishman Firm, ethnic intimidation cannot be charged on its own — it functions as an “add-on” offense that requires proof of an underlying predicate crime, such as terroristic threats or harassment, committed with racial or bias animus. That is why Romano faced multiple underlying charges alongside the hate crime count.

When ethnic intimidation is proven, the law automatically enhances the criminal classification of the underlying offense by one degree, elevating summary offenses to third-degree misdemeanors or misdemeanors to higher-level charges, per the Pennsylvania General Assembly. That enhancement will factor into how severely Romano can be sentenced next month.

A Statute Under Scrutiny

The verdict lands amid broader debate over whether Pennsylvania's decades-old bias crime law is equipped to handle modern cases. A June 2026 study from the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office found that hate-motivated crimes in the state are significantly underreported and difficult to prosecute due to statutory limitations and evidentiary hurdles built into Pennsylvania's 1982 ethnic intimidation law. Pennsylvania House Democrats have repeatedly introduced reform packages aimed at expanding protected identity characteristics, mandating law enforcement bias training, and increasing civil remedies for victims.

Statistical data analyzed by Disability Rights Pennsylvania shows that more than 57% of reported bias incidents statewide and nationally target victims based on race, ethnicity or ancestry, underscoring how the Delaware County case fits into a much larger pattern. For now, Romano remains free ahead of his sentencing date, with the enhanced charges against him serving as one of the more concrete recent tests of how the state's hate crime law is applied in practice.