Road rage incident ends in guilty plea

Victim ticked; he blasted deal as too lenient

The victim of a road rage incident that occurred in Tredyffrin during morning rush hour traffic on Route 202 remains dissatisfied with the resolution to the case, which allowed the man who harassed him to escape with a misdemeanor conviction instead of one for attempted murder, those involved in the case said Friday.

Defendant Matthew David Allen pleaded guilty to a single count of disorderly conduct before Common Pleas Judge Patrick Carmody, who agreed to sentence him to a year of probation and anger management counseling after pressing the prosecution to see whether the victim would appear in court to oppose the agreement.

Assistant District Attorney Brain Burack, who negotiated the plea with defense attorney Michael DiCindio of West Chester, told the judge that he had been unable to contact victim Joseph Cooper III about appearing in court Friday. But Burack acknowledged that Cooper had in the past expressed to him – in no uncertain terms – his displeasure with

the agreement.

“He yelled at me repeatedly,” Burack told Carmody during the brief proceeding in court. “In his view, this was an attempted murder.” Burack said Cooper believed that Allen had tried to “bait” Cooper into attacking him, so that Allen would have justification for shooting him with the handgun he drew during the final stages of the confrontation, in a parking lot off Lee Road in Chesterbrook.

An attempt to reach Cooper for comment was unsuccessful.

Carmody agreed that Cooper, a technical analyst at a Wayne Internet firm, had sent him a letter opposing the plea, which he felt was insufficiently lenient. “You scared the hell out of him, and that is not acceptable,” he told Allen. “I get his point. I totally understand it.”

The defendant, a 33-yearold East Brandywine man, said little during the proceeding. He answered Carmody’s questions about his decision to plead guilty, and said that he had surrendered the weapon he used in the incident, as well as his concealed weapon permit.

“I really wrestled with (accepting) the plea agreement,” said Carmody. “If you violate any of this, I will send you to jail. You are a bully, and I don’t have time for that.”

According to Burack’s account of the incident and the criminal complaint filed by Tredyffrin Cpl. Scott Costa, the encounter between Cooper and Allen began on Route 202 as the men were both driving southbound about 7:45 a.m. Aug. 18. Cooper later told investigators that he had switched lanes when the driver of a Jeep Wrangler behind him grew upset and began honking his horn. Cooper said he honked back, and the Jeep began tailgating him.

The Jeep followed Cooper’s Nissan Versa to the 700 block of Lee Road in Chesterbrook, where Cooper parked outside his office. Both men got out of their cars and exchanged words, until the driver of the Jeep, later identified as Allen, went back to his car, reached in, and pulled out a handgun, according to the complaint.

Cooper told Costa that Allen faced him, pointed the gun down, cocked it, and pointed the barrel at him. “Cooper said that at this point he felt in fear of his life,” Costa wrote in his complaint. “He felt like Allen was going to kill him.” But Allen got back into his Jeep and left. He was stopped by Costa a short distance away and told the officer about the gun and his permit to carry it.

He was allowed the leave the scene but was later arrested Aug. 20 and charged with terroristic threats, simple assault, possession of an instrument of crime, and harassment. Those charges were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea.

Burack said that he had more than one conversation with Cooper and Costa about the incident to determine what had happened and what the appropriate charges should be. He said discrepancies about what Cooper said about the gun having been cocked called into question his version of events, and the prosecutor told Carmody he did not feel certain he could win a guilty verdict against Allen at trial.

“The facts just don’t fit those assertions,” he said, noting that Allen has no criminal record of violence. “I have a serious question as to whether the gun was actually pointed at (Cooper). It might have been just two guys yelling and screaming at each other.”

He did say, however, that Allen’s decision to follow Cooper to his office and to display the handgun – identified as a .380 Sig Sauer – were troubling, and that it was thus important for his office to secure a conviction.