Man accused of lobbing Molotov to get day in court
A Collingdale man who allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at a Delaware County deputy sheriff before barricading himself in his home last year will get a preliminary hearing next month.
Jeromy A. Jones, 40, of the first block of MacDade Boulevard, had previously been deemed incompetent to stand trial for attempted murder in the confrontation outside his home on the afternoon of Aug. 8, 2017.
Deputy Sgt. Nick Maraini, other deputies and members of the Collingdale Police Department were serving a bench warrant at about 5 p.m. that day when Jones allegedly hurled a flaming bottle at the ground, which exploded near Mariani’s feet.
The deputies and other officers were preparing to leave after several unsuccessful attempts to make contact with Jones. They were walking away when they heard the front door open and saw a man in the doorway, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
“The male was holding what appeared to be a clear glass bottle, which appeared to contain some type of liquid with flames emanating from the top of the bottle,” according to the affidavit. “The male proceeded out the front door and he threw the flaming bottle at the feet of Sgt. Maraini. The male then retreated back into the same residence.”
Mariani, his uniform pants engulfed in flames, ran to the street and collapsed, where Officer Dan Scanlan was able to extinguish the flames. Scanlan also suffered bruising to his hand and abrasions to his hands, knees, elbow and face.
The confrontation kicked of a short standoff as Jones barricaded himself inside and authorities secured a perimeter around the house. Jones exited the house and surrendered to deputies and members of the Delaware County SWAT team at 5:22 p.m. without further incident. Authorities later found additional improvised explosives inside the house.
Mariani, who also works part time for the Ridley Park Police Department, was released from the hospital the following day after being treated for secondand third-degree wounds to his thighs, calves and left elbow. He is still out on workman’s compensation, according to Sheriff’s Office spokesman John McCann.
Jones was preliminarily arraigned on multiple charges Aug. 10, 2017, including four counts each of attempted murder, assault against a law enforcement officer and reckless endangerment. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has also filed an immigration detainer against Jones, finding probable cause for his deportation back to Jamaica.
Former Collingdale Police Chief Robert Adams said at the time that Jones had about two dozen contacts with borough police since 2013, including a stabbing incident on Nov. 20, 2014, which was apparently the subject of a probation violation prompting the warrant.
“I didn’t mean it … I don’t even know what’s going on. I really don’t,” Jones said as he was led into Magisterial District Judge Gregory J. Loftus’ courtroom for preliminary arraignment last year.
Jones was remanded to the county prison in Concord in lieu of $1 million cash bail following that hearing, but was transferred to Norristown State Hospital in September 2017 following a competency evaluation.
He was returned to the county prison last month after being deemed competent to stand trial before Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Coll, who presides over cases involving competency issues.
Defense attorney Heather Mattis argued Tuesday that Jones is still entitled to a preliminary hearing, however, and asked that the case either be remanded to the magisterial district court or sent to Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Scanlon, where it was originally assigned.
She noted that a rule change enacted by former President Judge Chad Kenney required all incompetency cases to be closed at the district court level and transferred to common pleas. But Mattis said that rule change was never submitted to the applicable rules committee of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and should be deemed void and unenforceable.
“This is merely a procedure that has been engaged in and has not been authorized by the Supreme Court,” she said.
Assistant District Attorney Mary Mann said that procedure has been in place for five years and has served hundreds of other cases well. She said Mattis was trying to “pick and choose” the court where her client would appear.
Mann said it is standard procedure for cases involving attempted homicide to come up to the District Attorney’s Office and be preassigned to a criminal court judge. In this case, the judge was Scanlon, but that took place before the competency hearing.
Once a defendant is found incompetent, she said, the case is reassigned to the Coll’s court and is not remanded to the district court level.
“I will give the defendant his preliminary hearing, but the case should not be remanded,” she said. “Just like we’ve done in all the hundreds of other cases, we can do it here.”
Coll said he understood Mattis’s argument and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Nov. 5 – in his courtroom.