Teenager charged with assault with deadly weapon, Towamencin police officer injured in accident

Charges of simple assault with a deadly weapon and recklessly endangering another person have been filed against the juvenile driver of a Franconia Township Ford F250 pickup truck who injured a Towamencin Township police officer in a crash at the corner of Forty Foot and Detwiler Road in May.

Cameron Michael Allen, 19, of the 900 block of Harcourt Lane, also faces lesser offenses including reckless driving, running a red light, illegal racing and going 45 mph over the speed limit, according to charging documents.

On May 18 at 7:13 p.m., Towamencin police responded to an accident report at the intersection involving Officer Konig, who was traveling west on Quarry Road in a police SUV on a non-emergency medical call, police said.

When police arrived, they found the driver's door of Konig's SUV in the middle of the intersection was heavily damaged. Also at the scene was a white 2019 Ford F250 pickup truck with heavy front-end damage, police said.

Konig was able to exit his SUV on the passenger side and was found sitting on the curb, police said. He was not seriously injured.

Seconds later, VMSC EMS arrived and examined Konig, police said. He was then taken to Grand View Hospital for further treatment.

Koenig may have suffered a concussion as well as several abrasions and cuts and is suffering from pain in his shoulder, back and pelvis, police said.

Police contacted Allen at the scene, who had redness on his forearm due to the airbag deployment but was uninjured, police said.

Allen told police he was driving north on Forty Foot Road — which has a 35 mph speed limit — at 70 mph, according to the affidavit, and claimed he hit the brakes about 300 feet before the intersection. However, the truck continued to slide into the intersection and crashed into Konig's police vehicle. Police said the roads were wet because of the rain.

According to the complaint, witnesses told police that Koenig had the green light at the time of the accident.

With assistance from Hatfield police, Towamencin investigators were unable to locate any tire or road marks from before or after the impact, according to charging documents.

Police said Allen's truck had larger than usual wheels that extended beyond the truck's body line, and there was no visible damage or defects to the brakes. There was also no fluid leaking near the wheels, police said. All of this showed police that the truck was in working order, police said.

During the investigation on site, the police received the message that North Penn now had published an article about the accident and a photo, according to the affidavit. Upon reading the article, police recognized the truck from an earlier incident at 7:05 p.m., police said.

At that point, police saw Allen's truck heading south on Forty Foot Road while being photographed by another vehicle, according to the complaint. The photographer was hanging out of the vehicle while doing so, police said. Authorities concluded Allen was headed to Royal Farms on Sumneytown Pike at Towamencin Avenue, police said.

Police say a passenger in Allen's truck told them Allen began braking “near the red brick house,” which turned out to be 1153 Forty Foot Road, about 400 feet from the crash site.

According to police data, Allen had five seconds to brake at a red light and four seconds at a yellow light.

Using recordings from the truck's advanced infotainment system, police were able to confirm that Allen drove from Cabela's in Hamburg on Route 61 to Route 78 and then to Route 309 South at 6 p.m., police said. On Route 78, Allen drove at a maximum speed of 105 mph and on Route 309 South in Quakertown, police said, up to 90 mph.

The data showed that Allen left Royal Farms at 7:11 p.m. and was accelerating rapidly by the time he arrived at Walgreens, police said.

In eight seconds, police said, Allen's truck accelerated from 54 mph to 86 mph in the 35 mph zone on Forty Foot Road. At 1111 Forty Foot Road, the truck was doing 79 mph, 200 feet before impact, police said.

According to court records, Allen was served with a summons on Aug. 9. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 23 at 1 p.m. before Magistrate Judge Edward Levine.

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled from public court records.

This article appears courtesy of a content sharing agreement between North Penn Now and The Reporter. For more articles like this, visit www.NorthPennNow.com

Originally published: August 28, 2024 at 22:02