Lebanon man jailed after pulling a knife on troopers during traffic stop | CPT PPP Coverage

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A Lebanon man is in McKean County Jail for allegedly pulling a knife on two state troopers during a traffic stop in Foster Township on Monday.

Joseph Angelo, 31, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault — fear of imminent serious bodily injury to a police officer, second-degree felonies; possession of a weapon, a first-degree misdemeanor; two counts of simple assault and one of resisting arrest, second-degree misdemeanors; four summary traffic violations and one misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to the criminal complaint, on Monday, Trooper Eric Thompson was assigned the investigation from an incident between Angelo and troopers Brandon Long and Hunter Freer at a traffic stop on U.S. Route 219 in Foster Township.

The troopers were together in a patrol vehicle when they observed Angelo’s vehicle with a license plate cover partially blocking the state of jurisdiction on the plate. The troopers conducted a traffic stop. Angelo immediately became irate, saying the troopers were trapping him and that they weren’t real police officers, the complaint stated.

Angelo was speaking very rapidly and displaying exaggerated reflexes while seated in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, police stated.

When troopers asked Angelo to get out of the car, he became more irate and began to yell at them before he pushed the door open quickly, reached around his waistline and jumped out of the vehicle, the complaint stated.

He began to point at Freer, screaming, “I want to know why you (expletive) stopped me,” while holding his hand behind his back. When Angelo was asked if he had any weapons, he said, “Ya I (expletive) do” and began to pull his right hand out from behind his back. Freer said, “What do you have” to which Angelo replied, “A knife, so get off my ass.” Both troopers stepped away from him and drew their tasers as Angelo continued to be hostile and display aggressive behavior. He then threw the knife into his car and put his hands in the air, at which time he was placed under arrest, according to the complaint.

While officers seated Angelo on the push bumper on the front of the patrol car to talk about what had happened, Angelo began having “severe body tremors” and displayed a lot of anxiety after being placed in handcuffs, the complaint stated. He told the troopers he thought they were going to beat him up, and that’s why he got out of his vehicle with a knife, the complaint stated. He began to calm down, and troopers noted a major mood swing and Angelo’s growing complacency, the complaint stated.

Long asked Angelo if he had a driver’s license; Angelo said it had been suspended. Freer told Angelo why he had been stopped, and Angelo agreed that the cover did obscure part of the license plate, the complaint stated.

Freer then went to speak with the front seat passenger in Angelo’s car, and detected an odor of marijuana. While the passenger claimed to be a registered medical marijuana user, the marijuana she provided to the trooper was in a baggie rather than in a package from the dispensary, the complaint stated.

Long observed indicators through the traffic stop to indicate the use of methamphetamine by Angelo. He asked Angelo about it, to which the man replied he had been in rehab three times, the complaint stated.

Angelo was arraigned Monday before District Judge Rich Luther and jailed in lieu of $75,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in Central Court on March 30.