Two Plymouth Township police officers were injured during an arrest last Wednesday after the man they were trying to take into custody allegedly grabbed hold of an officer's Taser and tried to pull a service pistol from its holster. One officer was treated and released, while the other remains out of work recovering from an arm injury.
According to morethanthecurve.com, officers responded to the 2000 block of Chemical Road in Plymouth Meeting at 4:54 p.m. on October 21 after receiving a report that 42-year-old Dallas Whitt Anderson-James, of Philadelphia, was violating a protection from abuse order. Police said Anderson-James had been repeatedly contacting a female victim despite the valid order protecting her. Officers also contacted Anderson-James directly to warn him about the violation, the pending arrest warrant, and the instruction to stay away from the Chemical Road property, according to NBC10 Philadelphia.
Officers Track Suspect to Cross Country Trail
Around 7:09 p.m. that evening, police received a report that Anderson-James was walking along Chemical Road, NBC10 Philadelphia reports. Officers located him near the Cross Country Trail and a Barnes and Noble store and attempted to take him into custody on the outstanding PFA arrest warrant.
Police said Anderson-James refused orders to stop and would not remove his hand from his pocket. A struggle followed, and officials said he continued to fight with officers until he was finally handcuffed.
Suspect Allegedly Seized Taser, Reached for Gun
During that struggle, officials said Anderson-James took possession of an officer's Taser and then grabbed the grip of a service pistol, attempting to remove the firearm from the officer's holster, per the same report from morethanthecurve.com. The officer managed to prevent him from pulling the gun free.
Both officers were hospitalized for injuries sustained in the fight. One was treated and released and has since returned to work, while the second was released from the hospital but remains out of work while recovering from an arm injury, the outlet's report notes.
Charges and Looming Court Date
Anderson-James, who police say is from Plymouth Meeting, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, disarming a law enforcement officer, stalking, evading arrest, and related offenses. Charges include two counts of disarming a law enforcement officer, a third-degree felony under Pennsylvania law, which covers unlawfully removing or attempting to remove a weapon from an officer, or depriving the officer of its use, when the person knows or has reasonable cause to know that the individual is a law enforcement officer.
The aggravated assault charge he faces falls under a separate state statute covering attempts to cause, or intentionally or knowingly causing, bodily injury to a police officer, an offense classified as a second-degree felony. Anderson-James was arraigned on October 22, with bail set at $100,000 for the disarming charges and $20,000 for the two PFA violations; he remains confined at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after failing to post bail, according to the local report.
A preliminary hearing on the aggravated assault and disarming a law enforcement officer charges is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10, at 9:30 a.m., per morethanthecurve.com's reporting.
