Delaware man pleads to Linwood burglary
MEDIA COURTHOUSE >> A Delaware man with a lengthy rap sheet entered an open guilty plea this week to burglary for an October 2018 incident that took place inside a Linwood business.
Assistant District Attorney Danielle Gallaher noted the charge, a felony of the first degree, had previously been withdrawn against Richard Simmons, but was added for the plea hearing Monday before Court of Common Pleas Judge Richard Cappelli.
Simmons, 47, of the 700 block of Washington Street in Wilmington, Del., was arrested Oct. 4, 2018, after a Lower Chichester police officer found him inside a business along Market Street shortly before 12:30 a.m.
Officer Tim McBride was on patrol when he heard what he thought was a female screaming from inside the business, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Simmons’ arrest. McBride entered the business and heard screams coming from behind the counter, where he saw a man later identified as Simmons lying on top of the screaming woman.
“I drew my weapon and ordered the defendant to get up off the victim,” McBride said in the affidavit.
Simmons stood and turned toward the officer, but repeatedly failed to comply with orders to get on the ground, according to the affidavit. Instead, he advanced toward the officer, who holstered his weapon and pulled out his Taser.
When Simmons continued to ignore the officers’ demands, the affidavit says McBride shot him with the Taser, dropping him to the floor. Backup officers arrived at the scene, but Simmons continued to resist arrest for a few minutes before being subdued, according to the affidavit.
The woman suffered an abrasion to her right elbow and a swollen lip. She was treated at the scene by paramedics.
She later told McBride and Police Sgt. Larry Moore that she was working when she saw a man walk in and out of the business two or three times. The last time she heard him enter, she was in the back behind a counter getting ready to leave for the night, she said.
The man then moved behind the counter, blocking her exit, according to the affidavit. She said the man was unfazed when she told him the police station was nearby, then grabbed her and threw her on the floor.
When she tried to get up, he physically held her down, according to the affidavit. The woman said she feared for her life and was screaming as the man was on top of her. It was at this point McBride entered the business.
Simmons, represented by defense attorney Jeff Gold, has a 62-page rap sheet dating back to the late 1990s with arrests in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland on offenses including robbery, drugs and weapons, according to Moore.
Simmons was initially charged with felony attempted forcible rape, aggravated assault and burglary, but those were withdrawn at a prior hearing and replaced with three counts of misdemeanor indecent assault, along with remaining initial charges of simple assault, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint, reckless endangerment, harassment and resisting arrest.
The burglary charge was reinstated and the rest dismissed as part of the plea.
Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Cappelli has scheduled sentencing for Dec. 16 pending a presentence report, as well as psychological, psychiatric and psychosexual evaluations.