Man faces prison for domestic incident

NORRISTOWN » An Abington man was sentenced to state prison in connection with a domestic disturbance in Norristown during which he brandished a knife.

Lemont Gregory Fergerson, 49, of the 1900 block of Coolidge Avenue, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to one to four years in a state correctional facility on charges of simple assault, possessing an instrument of crime and harassment in connection with the June 2016 incident in Norristown. Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who convicted Fergerson of the charges during a non-jury trial, also ordered Fergerson to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation and to complete any recommended treatment.

The judge also ordered Fergerson, who also goes by the name Lemont Fergeson, to have no contact with the female victim of the incident.

An investigation began about 2:55 p.m. June 29, 2016, when Norristown police responded to the 800 block of Smith Street for a report of a domestic disturbance. When police arrived they encountered a woman with whom Fergerson once had a relationship and who claimed he showed up at her residence uninvited and forced his way inside, according to the criminal complaint.

Fergerson then “brandished a brown handled, serrated edged kitchen knife and pointed the knife at the male friend” of the woman, according to the criminal complaint filed by Norristown Police Officer Brian Graham. Fergerson then placed the knife to the woman’s body before taking the woman’s house and car keys and leaving the residence, court documents indicate.

The woman attempted to retrieve her keys but Fergerson fled from the area in a GMC Yukon vehicle, police said. A short time later police conducted a traffic stop of Fergerson and recovered a brown-handled kitchen knife from the vehicle, according to the arrest affidavit.

During the non-jury trial, Judge O’Neill acquitted Fergerson of charges of aggravated assault, burglary, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass.