A 23-year-old York man is facing felony charges after he allegedly threatened to “shoot everybody” at a local outreach for unhoused people, then struck a police officer who tracked him down a short time later. Gabriel Roberts was taken into custody on October 29 and remains jailed on $75,000 bail.
According to court documents cited by the York Daily Record, Roberts made the threat at Friends & Neighbors, an outreach for the unhoused located in the 100 block of North Duke Street, on the afternoon of October 29. A York City Police officer later located him in the 100 block of East Market Street around 1 p.m. that same day.
When the officer attempted to detain him, Roberts allegedly struck the officer on top of the head and twice in the back, per the report. Police said it took help from several officers and several minutes to get him into handcuffs.
Charges Stack Up After the Confrontation
Roberts now faces a felony aggravated assault charge tied to the alleged strikes on the officer, the outlet's report notes. He is also charged with several misdemeanors — making terroristic threats, simple assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and possession of marijuana — along with a summary charge of harassment.
Pennsylvania's aggravated assault statute, as laid out by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, covers intentionally or knowingly causing bodily injury to an enumerated officer who is performing official duties. It isn't clear from available records which specific subsection of the statute prosecutors are applying in Roberts' case.
That distinction matters for how serious the felony ultimately is. Under the statute, offenses falling under subsections (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(9) are graded as first-degree felonies, while those under subsections (a)(3) through (a)(8) are graded as second-degree felonies, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
Resisting Arrest Also on the Table
Roberts is separately charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanor that Pennsylvania law defines specifically around situations where force was needed to make an arrest. State statute says a person commits a second-degree misdemeanor when, intending to prevent a public servant from making a lawful arrest or performing another duty, they create a substantial risk of bodily injury or require substantial force to overcome their resistance, per the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
Roberts was placed in York County Prison following his arrest on October 29. A preliminary hearing in his case is scheduled for November 24.
