A Telford man is facing felony charges following an alleged confrontation with police outside of the Telford Night Market late last month.
Deion Walters, 26, has been charged with felony counts of aggravated assault against designated individuals and disarming a law enforcement officer, as well as misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, reckless endangerment, simple assault, resisting arrest, and related offenses, in connection with the June 29 incident.
According to the criminal complaint, Telford Borough Police Chief Randall Floyd heard rumblings that Walters was causing issues for patrons of the market around 6 p.m. Floyd then spoke with Walters, who was reportedly drinking a beer at the time, stating that he didn’t want any further issues throughout the night, the report states.
Police said Walters had shown similar conduct to numerous vendors and patrons of the market during prior events.
At approximately 8:40 p.m. — 10 minutes after the market closed — police were dispatched to the area of North Main Street and Penn Avenue for a report of an intoxicated Walters harassing patrons of the night market while having a firearm tucked in his waistband. Arriving police encountered Walters standing on a retaining wall along the 100 block of Penn Avenue, at which point Walters was described as staring at the crowd of the night market “indiscriminately and postured like a statue,” police said.
Officers then approached Walters with firearms drawn, the report states.
As police approached, Walters allegedly told police to shoot him and ignored commands to put his hands up. Police noticed a firearm holstered on Walters’ left hip, and he continued to ignore commands, instead yelling about police being on his property, according to charging documents.
One officer transitioned from their firearm to their taser, however Walters allegedly slapped the taser, pushed the officer’s arm twice, spit at their feet, and “squared up” multiple times. Walters then allegedly said “You wanna draw? We can f-----g draw,” and began walking backwards, at which point he stumbled over a potted plant and the officer tased him.
Once placed in handcuffs, Walters allegedly yelled threats towards bystanders and added “This is the Trump era, can’t even defend your own property,” police said. Walters’ firearm was secured by police, and he was then transported to the Lansdale Borough Police Department for holding.
With Walters in custody, police spoke to one witness who stated that Walters had harassed them and their family for parking in a nearby auto shop. The report states Walters was intoxicated at the time and had his firearm exposed while making threats.
Walters was arraigned the following day by District Judge Maureen Coggins, who set bail at $25,000 cash. Walters was then remanded to county jail after failing to post bail, however court records show he was released from custody a day later after Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Garrett Page held a bail review hearing and adjusted the bail setting to $25,000 unsecured.
Walters has no criminal history in Montgomery County beyond a handful of traffic citations and a summary charge of disorderly conduct in 2015.
Following the incident, officials from the Telford Night Market released the following statement:
As several vendors and customers are aware, there was an incident last night at the conclusion of the Telford Night Market.
A local resident caused a disruption. Please be advised the individual is in custody and has been charged accordingly. For those not familiar with Telford, the Telford Police Station is just across the street from the marketplace. Over the past 20 years, an officer has always been and will continue to be a visible presence at the market. Our Telford Night Market participants safety is one of our primary concerns.
And thank you to the Souderton and Telford police for handling this incident!
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
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