Man Facing Charges After Pepper Spraying Driver During Road Rage Incident in Upper Gwynedd, Police Say

Keith Heffintrayer | North Penn Now•

A Philadelphia man is facing charges after he allegedly pepper sprayed a driver during a road rage incident in Upper Gwynedd Township.

Kenneth Peace, 31, has been charged with misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, simple assault, unsworn falsification to authorities and five counts of reckless endangerment in connection with the April 25 incident. He is currently free on $2,500 unsecured bail.

Police were dispatched to the 1100 block of Welsh Road at 3:29 p.m. for a report of a road rage incident. Arriving police found the driver sitting in the grass in obvious pain with his head in his lap, who said he was driving himself and four friends to Ambler when a white Honda SUV that was driving aggressively attempted to merge into his lane from the right lane, according to charging documents.

The victim stated that he did not allow the vehicle to merge, at which point the driver — identified as Peace — allegedly began shouting obscenities towards the victim and his passengers, police said. The victim then flipped Peace the middle finger, at which point Peace cut them off, stopped in front of them, then exited his vehicle and approached their vehicle, police said.

Peace continued to scream at the driver, then grabbed a pepper spray container on his keychain and sprayed the driver directly in the face, according to the criminal complaint. Peace then walked back to his vehicle and drove away, police said.

One of the victims captured the alleged incident on video, and two others took photos of the license plate, which was traced back to Peace, police said.

After being contacted, Peace went to the Upper Gwynedd Police Station to provide a written statement in which he confirmed he was involved in the incident, but said it was only a verbal confrontation, police said. When asked if he carries pepper spray or if he got out of his vehicle during the incident, Peace said he did not, according to police.

Once Peace left the station, investigators compared his image from the interview to the footage captured at the scene, which appeared to be a match, police said.

Peace was officially charged on June 13 and arraigned the following afternoon. His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on July 6 at 11 a.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Suzan Leonard.

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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