Man admits striking officer with vehicle

NORRISTOWN >> A 72-year-old Allentown man has admitted that he attempted to cause serious bodily injury to a Lower Pottsgrove police officer by striking him with his vehicle during an attempted traffic stop.

Dennis Lee Neulin, whose last known address was in the 400 block of South 25th Street, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court on Wednesday to a felony charge of aggravated assault in connection with the 8:52 p.m. April 16, 2015, traffic altercation that began at High Street and Sunnyside Avenue in Lower Pottsgrove.

Judge Gail A. Weilheimer deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigative report about Neu-

lin. Neulin will remain in the county jail without bail while awaiting sentencing.

Neulin, who is represented by defense lawyer Megan Schanbacher, faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison on the charge. However, state sentencing guidelines could allow for a lesser sentence. Neulin has been in jail since his arrest in 2015 and likely would receive credit for that time.

“There’s no agreement to what the sentence will be. The sentence will be up to the judge who will consider all the circumstances in the

case,” said county Deputy District Attorney Thomas W. McGoldrick.

Action on Neulin’s case had been delayed since the time of his arrest while he underwent evaluations for competency. Neulin’s appearance in court on Wednesday was an indication that authorities had determined he was competent to participate in the legal proceedings pending against him.

In exchange for his guilty plea to the most serious charge, other charges of simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, resisting arrest and fleeing or eluding police are slated to be dismissed against Neulin at time of sentencing.

With the charges, authorities alleged Neulin struck Lower Pottsgrove Police Officer James McCue with his vehicle during the incident. Neulin was shot by McCue after the officer fired several shots at the vehicle that struck him, according to court documents.

McCue, according to a criminal complaint, attempted to stop a blue, 2002 BMW, operated by Neulin, that was traveling west on High Street at Sunnyside Avenue. Officer Ryan Smith also responded to the area to assist McCue and eventually caught up with McCue and the BMW at the intersection of High Street and Armand Hammer Boulevard.

“It was clear to Officer Smith that the operator

of the BMW was not going to stop his car. In fact, with two police cars behind him, both with activated emergency lights and at least one siren, the operator chose to flee and run a steady red signal on High Street,” Lower Pottsgrove Detective Joseph Campbell and county Detective William Mitchell alleged in the arrest affidavit.

McCue pulled in front of the BMW and officers were able to stop the vehicle near High Street and Moser Road in Pottstown, court documents indicate. Smith and McCue got out of their vehicles and Smith observed the BMW quickly accelerate toward McCue, according to the criminal complaint.

Smith stated he heard

McCue “yell something and then there were multiple gunshots,” according to court documents. Smith then ran to McCue, at the time a 6½-year veteran of the police department, who was lying on the ground after being struck by the BMW, according to the criminal complaint.

“The BMW drove off without stopping,” Campbell and Mitchell alleged.

About 9:10 p.m., a woman in Pottstown reported that a man who had been slowly driving a BMW SUV pulled up near her home, approached her, and told her he had been shot. Police then responded to Clearview Street and found Neulin bleeding from at least one gunshot wound to the

face, according to the arrest affidavit.

Neulin was transported to Reading Hospital and Trauma Center for treatment, police said.

Authorities alleged they observed five gunshot impacts on the front hood and windshield of Neulin’s vehicle. County detectives processed the crime scenes and found five spent .40- caliber fired cartridge cases near High Street and Moser Road, according to the criminal complaint.

McCue also was treated for multiple injuries at Reading Hospital after the incident, authorities said.

County detectives assist local police departments during investigations of officer-involved shootings.