Motorist gets prison time in road rage case

Daniel Keith Waltson sentenced to 1 to 23 months in county prison

A man who was found guilty of a road rage incident with a bicyclist was sentenced to time in county prison.

WEST CHESTER » The East Fallowfield man who was found guilty of a road rage incident with a bicyclist — a case that illuminated the ongoing battle between cyclists and motorists on Chester County’s back roads — was sentenced to a short stint in county prison Tuesday.

Judge Anthony Sarcione, who imposed the sentence of one to 23 months in jail on the defendant, Daniel Keith Waltson, said that he was granting him some leniency because mental health issues had played a role in the case.

“It is documented that he has mental health issues,” said Sarcione, citing a defense memorandum that include three separate psychological evaluations of Waltson done since 2011, including one done at the prison following his arrest on the road rage case. “But he’s improving.

“I applaud your trying to deal with your issues and get proper care,” said Waltson, who apologized to the cyclist he had tried to run off the road and had threatened to kill.

However, the judge said that granting defense attorney Vincent DiFabio’s request to spare Waltson incarceration and give him only probation would send the wrong message to the community about the serious nature of road rage incidents.

“Driving a car at a bicyclist …” Sarcione said, shaking his head in dismay. “By the grace of God someone wasn’t killed.”

Waltson said that his behavior that day was exacerbated by mediation he had been taking for paranoia and bipolar issues, medications that he said worsened his condition rather than helped it. “It was just overwhelming at the time,” the self-employed landscape contractor told Sarcione. “If I can just have a chance and get the right treatment, I’ll be fine.”

Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Morgan, who prosecuted the case, had asked Sarcione for some jail time in county prison, citing the danger that Waltson had put the cyclist, Robert Greaves of West Whiteland, in. She also cited Waltson’s history of criminal behavior, including drunk driving, and his other angry run-ins with neighbors.

“He tried to run a bicyclist off the road, and threatened to kill him,” she said. “He did so without any provocation. He terrorized everybody.” At one point in the incident, Waltson steered his car into the oncoming lane of traffic

and came within inches of colliding head-on with the Greaves, an experienced triathlete.

The incident occurred on Sept. 17, 2014, on Route 841 in Chatham, West Marlborough, a rural area of the county with tight, winding roads favored by many cyclists.

Waltson testified at his trial that the encounter between himself and Greaves had been largely instigated by the cyclist, who he said

cursed and spit at him as they travelled side by side along the Route 841 highway north of the village of Chatham in West Marlborough.

“He got pretty mad at me, and he yelled, ‘Bring it on!’” Waltson told the jury in his version of events. “He swore at me, and spit at me so I could feel the spray hit my arm.”

But the jury found Waltson guilty of simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, although it acquitted him of more serious felony assault charges. The conviction by the jury indicates that they largely

believed Greaves’ version of events, primarily because part of it was witnessed by a local resident who saw Waltson speeding on the road and shouting angrily at Greaves.

Greaves, who has moved out of state, did not appear for the sentencing. He was not seriously injured in the incident.

Sarcione also sentenced Waltson to three years of probation, and ordered him to continue his mental health treatment.

To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.