Son, Mother Charged In Thanksgiving Melee

While many families were sitting down for a traditional Thanksgiving meal, Bristol Borough police were dealing with a wild situation that ended with two arrests.

Patrolmen were called to the Bath Street Market on the corner of Bath and Otter streets at 3:55 p.m. last Thursday for a report of a fight in progress. Arriving officers found a large crowd outside the corner market and detained two people.

Officer Ryan Bunda wrote in court papers that an investigation determined a woman in her 20s was at the counter in the store with her cousin and a 2-year-old child when Willa Pope, 41, of Philadelphia, walked in the store; the two exchanged words while Pope’s son, Nilyjahwan Thompson, 24, of Bristol, entered.

Pope struck the woman in her 20s with her first. The altercation ended up knocking over two shelves in the store, which gave Pope the opportunity to pick up rod from a shelf and hit the woman in her 20s in the head, police said.

The fight ended up outside the market and Thompson attacked a man related to the woman allegedly attacked by Pope inside the store, police said. The man who was reportedly attacked arrived at the store initially to help the woman being assaulted by Pope, Bunda wrote.

A witness told police Thompson yelled to his girlfriend, “get my strap” moments before police arrived. The term “strap” is often a reference to a gun.

The woman Pope allegedly fought with in the store suffered a cut to the forehead after being struck with the rod, police said.

Pope was arrested when she interfered with officers who had handcuffed her son, police said.

Thompson complained of pain from a laceration and the Bucks County Rescue Squad transported him to Aria Health’s Frankford-Torresdale campus in Northeast Philadelphia.

Officer Dean Johnson was dispatched to the hospital after the 24-year-old was taken. He learned that Thompson had given staff a problem and had escaped the medical facility on Red Lion Road. He was captured a few minutes later, according to court papers.

Thompson was found to have an active warrant by Bucks County Sheriff’s Department and Pennsylvania State Police, authorities said.

Thompson and Pope were both reported to be uncooperative and unable to be fingerprinted.

Thompson was charged with escape, terroristic threats, simple assault and related offenses. His mother was charged with possession of an instrument of crime, simple assault, reckless endangerment and related offenses. Thompson remains in prison on 10 percent of $50,000 bail, and Pope was released of $50,000 unsecured bail.

Bristol Township police assisted borough officers at the scene.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.