Man faces jail for assaulting police officers
NORRISTOWN » An Upper Moreland man is on his way to jail for assaulting two township police officers during the investigation of a domestic disturbance at the man’s residence.
Thomas W. Scherillo, 61, of the 200 block of Gilpin Road, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Wednesday to 11½ to 23 months in the county jail, to be followed by five years’ probation, after he pleaded guilty to two felony charges of aggravated assault of a police officer in connection with the 9:25 p.m. May 17, 2016, incident at his residence. Judge Thomas C. Branca, who accepted a plea agreement in the matter, ordered Scherillo to report to the jail on Aug. 28 to begin serving the sentence.
Scherillo is eligible for
the jail’s work release program during his incarceration, according to the plea agreement. Scherillo also must complete an anger management course and undergo a drug, alcohol and mental health evaluation and follow any recommendations for treatment, the judge said.
An investigation began when Upper Moreland police responded to Scherillo’s residence for a domestic disturbance after a female called emergency dispatchers and whispered that “her boyfriend might kill her,” according to the criminal complaint. Police said they could hear a man screaming in the background before the phone call was disconnected.
When emergency dispatchers got the woman back on the phone she advised them that Scherillo was intoxicated, would be physical with responding officers and had a can of mace in his hand, according to the arrest affidavit.
When police arrived at the residence Scherillo opened an inner door and shouted obscenities at officers and refused requests to step outside. Scherillo then engaged a door lock and retreated into the house where he was no longer visible and he could be heard arguing with the woman who called police, court papers indicate.
Scherillo later came back to the door holding a can of mace, which he pointed in the direction of one officer. As another officer fired a Taser device at Scherillo, striking him in the midsection, Scherillo stumbled backward and discharged the can of mace.
“Scherillo went back into the house and kept trying to push the door shut,” Upper Moreland Police Officer James Robb alleged in the arrest affidavit.
As police tried to enter the residence, Scherillo discharged the can of mace again and two officers discharged Tasers, striking Scherillo in the left upper side of his chest, court documents alleged.