A Royersford man is free on $50,000 bond and faces two felony counts of aggravated assault and a felony charge of eluding police after he sped off from a traffic stop, dragging one officer a short distance and flinging another out of his vehicle, police said.
Jalen Jeremiah Scott, 26, was arraigned, jailed and bonded out June 9, two days after the alleged incident at Forty Foot and Quarry roads, according to a criminal complaint. A warrant was issued for his arrest after police called off a pursuit, due to police being in possession of Scott’s license, registration, and medical marijuana prescription card, police said.
Scott also faces charges of three misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person, a misdemeanor count of escape, and summary charges of speeding, reckless driving, and disregarding a traffic lane, according to court records.
Scott has an active case pending trial at the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas from a March 2020 West Norriton arrest, in which he was charged with carrying a firearm without a license, possession of personal use of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving without headlights, according to court records. As of April 2021, Scott was denied Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD), per court records.
Police said an officer in an unmarked car near Williamsburg Way clocked Scott going 18 miles per hour over the 35-miles-per-hour speed limit on Forty Foot Road around 6:15 a.m. June 7. After being pulled over, the officer noticed the odor of marijuana in Scott’s car, and asked him if he had a medical marijuana card, to which Scott said he did and handed it to the officer, police said.
When asked if he had marijuana in the car, Scott allegedly told police it was in the trunk. He told police it was packaged in a “brown round thing,” and said he did not want to show it to police. Scott then showed police his marijuana prescription bottle, continuing to tell them the marijuana in his trunk was properly packaged, police said. Scott asked police if they wanted to look in the trunk, and said, “We don’t need to do that,” and then exited the car, opened the trunk, and told police it was in a basket, police said.
Police found no marijuana in his trunk, but rather witnessed Scott reaching deep into his glove compartment, police said. When police asked if he put his prescription bottle back into the brown drawstring bag that was on the passenger seat, Scott said, “You can’t touch that.” He then threw items from the bag around the car, including blunt cigars, police said. The officer entered the car from the passenger side and retrieved the bag, police said.
Scott snatched the bag back and bearhugged it, stating “I got to go, I got to go,” police said. The officer knelt on the passenger seat and attempted to get the bag back, police said. Meanwhile, another officer reached in the driver’s side window and restrained Scott’s wrist, police said.
Then, Scott allegedly accelerated, driving away while both officers were partially inside the car, police said. The one officer was able to step backwards to safety, but the second officer hit the pillar between the car doors and was flung onto the side of Forty Foot Road, police said.
A third officer started to pursue Scott down Forty Foot Road to Allentown Road, where Scott allegedly went into the southbound lane of oncoming traffic on Forty Foot Road, swerving around cars stopped at the intersection, nearly hitting one that was turning left, police said. At this point, the officer who pulled over Scott called off the pursuit, because he knew who Scott was by his license, registration, insurance, and medical marijuana cards that were still in his possession.
Police found Scott’s marijuana prescription on the side of the road, as well as unopened blunt cigars, police said.
Scott’s preliminary hearing is June 16 before District Judge
Ed Levine in Lansdale.
As a result of the incident, the officer who was partially inside of the vehicle sustained injuries to his left hand and left knee, according to the complaint.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records, the affidavit of probable cause and interviews with police.
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