A Hatfield Township man is facing felony child endangerment charges stemming from a road rage incident that occurred on June 21 in Montgomeryville.
Montgomery Township Police were dispatched to the intersection of County Line and Richardson roads on June 21 at 5:33 p.m. for a report of a road rage incident involving terroristic threats. Police said they received three separate calls from people who witnessed the incident.
According to the criminal complaint, witnesses told police they were traveling northbound on Richardson Road towards County Line Road when a gray Hyundai sedan moved into oncoming traffic, passed all vehicles, pulled into the intersection without stopping, and then began screaming at multiple vehicles. One of the witnesses said the driver — later identified as 39-year-old Michael Barnett — yelled that if the vehicles cut him off again, he was going to kill them.
A woman and a child were inside of Barnett’s vehicle at the time of the incident, police said.
Barnett later called Montgomery Township Police by phone, stating that three vehicles had cut him off while he was traveling on Bethlehem Pike, so he followed them down Richardson Road, according to charging documents. Barnett then confessed to passing the vehicles, blocking the intersection and threatening to kill the other drivers if they were to cut him off again, police said.
Court documents show charges were filed against Barnett on July 9, and he was subsequently arraigned by District Judge Scott Palladino, who set bail at $5,000 unsecured.
Barnett’s next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on July 19 at 2:15 p.m. in front of District Judge Andrea Duffy.
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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