Man Accused of Ramming Courthouse with Truck Has Hearing

The man accused of ramming a district courthouse with his truck apparently had a problem with the place.

Falls Township Detective Stephen Reeves testified at 52-year-old William Shaw’s preliminary hearing that the Levittown man never gave a reason why he backed his red 1998 Chevrolet Blazer through the front doors of the courthouse belonging on District Judge Jan Vislosky on New Falls Road last month, but he gathered it was because Shaw was upset with the outcome of certain cases he was involved with.

Mark Lucio, an EMT headed to work in New Jersey, said in court Tuesday that he saw an SUV in the parking lot of the courthouse around 4 a.m. on March 13 and heard glass shatter shortly after but didn’t see the truck hit the front doors. After hearing the crash, Lucio said he called police to report what he heard.

According to court papers, Shaw returned to the scene of the crime several hours later and Sgt. Sven Beauchmin noticed the 52-year-old was not driving his familiar red 1998 Chevrolet Blazer. Shaw had an odor of alcohol coming from his breath and became “deceptive” when Beauchmin asked where the Blazer was, court papers state.

Police later interviewed Shaw and recovered his damage truck, which he parked off Falls-Tullytown Road, court papers say.

Due to the damage caused to the front of the courthouse, all court proceedings were canceled on March 13. However, the district court remained open and the clerks continued with the important work of the day.

Reeves said the damage is estimated to have cost the county about $8,000.

Public defender Josh Buchannan said before District Judge Robert Wagner Jr. that Shaw did not burglarize the courthouse because he never got out to make entry into the building and argued for the burglary charge to be dropped. The prosecution disagreed and said he was in control of the truck when it went into the entry way.

The burglary charge was dropped by the end of the hearing, but charges of criminal trespassing, institutional vandalism, criminal mischief, obstruction of the administration of law, disorderly conduct and two less serious traffic offenses were forwarded onto Doylestown for trial.

The case was handled through Wagner’s court because it would be a conflict if Vislosky handled it.

Shaw remains in prison unable to post bail.

Related:

• Man Rams District Court, Later Comes Back to Scene of Crime, Cops Say