Attempted Homicide, Aggravated Assault Charges Dropped Against Towamencin Man

Keith Heffintrayer•

Jeffrey Thompson, 47, of Towamencin.

The majority of the charges against a Towamencin man accused of running over his subcontractor in a bank parking lot have been dropped, as part of a negotiated plea agreement with prosecutors.

Jeffrey Thompson, 48, of the 1600 block of Kriebel Road, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one misdemeanor count of reckless endangerment as part of the agreement, which saw charges of aggravated assault, aggravated assault by vehicle, simple assault, reckless driving and driving the wrong way dropped in exchange for the plea.

The attempted criminal homicide charge was dropped at the district court level, prior to Thompson’s formal arraignment at county court. As a result of his guilty plea, Thompson has been sentenced to 40 days to 23 months in county jail, followed by probation.

Details from the Criminal Complaint

According to the criminal complaint, Lansdale Police were dispatched to the 200 block of West Main Street at 5:52 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2018, for a reported disturbance. Montgomery County Dispatch informed police that two men were screaming at each other in the parking lot, but upgraded the incident to potentially physical and then upgraded the incident a third time to include a vehicle crash with injuries.

Moments later, dispatch received another call from a man who identified himself as Jeff Thompson, stating that he had run over a man because he had stepped in front of his truck, the report states.

Upon arrival to the scene, police encountered Thompson, then 47 years old. He was still sitting in his vehicle, according to the complaint. Police described the truck as a large Ford F-250 with a snow plow mount on the front, carrying so much rock salt that the rear tires were bulging and the rear suspension was sagging. Police also encountered the victim, identified as Billy Jay Wilson, of Perkasie, who was laying in the parking lot, screaming in pain. Wilson was taken from the scene via ambulance to Abington Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, according to the report.

Witnesses on the scene told police that they saw a man with a bald head—identified as Wilson—banging on the window of Thompson’s truck, yelling "give me my f---ing money,” according to the report. Wilson continued to yell while banging on the driver’s side fender, while Thompson allegedly hit the gas and inched the truck back and forth an estimated six times, the report states.

Then, with Wilson in front of the truck, Thompson allegedly hit the gas and pushed Wilson an estimated three truck lengths across the parking lot, causing Wilson to slam down onto the lot. Thompson then accelerated and drove over Wilson, before "peeling” out of the parking lot and turning against traffic down Susquehanna Ave, the report states.

As of April 2019, Wilson was still recovering from his injuries.