A Lansdale man awaiting court proceedings stemming from an April 2020 arrest in Hatfield Township on weapons charges has been arrested again in connection with a hit and run crash in Lansdale Borough.
First responders were dispatched to the intersection of North Broad Street and East Fifth Street at 6:06 p.m. on Sept. 12 for a report of a multi-vehicle crash with injuries. Upon arrival, police learned that one of the vehicles involved in the crash had since left the scene.
Investigators said the driver of a Mazda was attempting to cross North Broad Street from West Fifth Street, when they were struck by a white pickup truck that was attempting to make a left onto North Broad Street from East Fifth Street.
The driver of the Mazda sustained minor injuries in the crash, officials said.
The pickup truck — driven by 37-year-old Alexander Handschu — fled the scene following the crash, police said. Handschu was located by police a short time later and taken into custody on a misdemeanor charge of accidents involving death or personal injury along with a summary count of driving on a suspended license, according to police.
He’s currently being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $7,500 cash bail, court records show.
Handschu was previously arrested in April 2020 after he allegedly pulled a firearm during an incident along the 1300 block of Fairgrounds Road in Hatfield Township. Police said they recovered a loaded .45 caliber handgun from Handschu’s waistband, and he was subsequently charged with a felony count of firearms not to be carried without a license along with misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, reckless endangerment, simple assault, harassment, and possession of a weapon.
Despite the case being three-and-a-half years old, the last action item on the docket is an order for a competency hearing dated Oct. 24, 2022. Though there has been no advancement on the proceedings since that time, the case still shows as active in the court portal.
Bail in that case was initially set at $5,000 cash, however it was changed to unsecured in late April 2020 and he was released from custody. That period fell during the initial COVID-19 shutdown, when county officials were attempting to reduce the population of the county jail during the pandemic.
Further review of court records shows Handschu has been either arrested or cited for traffic violations eight times since March 1 across Lansdale Borough, Hatfield Borough, Hatfield Township, and Souderton Borough. Included in those incidents are four separate citations for driving without a license, as well as citations for running a stop sign, tailgating, and running a red light.
Most of those cases resulted in guilty pleas and fines, though several cases remain active.
Handschu was also arrested in Lansdale on April 6 on misdemeanor counts of defiant trespassing, resisting arrest, and evading arrest. He posted $7,500 cash bail in that case, and is awaiting further court proceedings.
In regards to the charges stemming from the crash on Tuesday, Handschu has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 4 at 11 a.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Ed Levine.
North Penn Now has reached out to Hatfield Township Police Chief Bill Tierney for an update on Handschu’s April 2020 arrest and the result of the competency hearing that followed. We will update this article once we have received a response.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using police reports, court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
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