A 24-year-old Levittown man has been charged with a slew of offenses after violently attacking an officer and a vehicle during an altercation with police.
Court documents show that a Bucks County Adult Probation Department officer was in the area of New School Lane in Falls Township’s Levittown section a little before 7 a.m. Monday, when he observed an occupied white Lincoln sedan stopped in the middle of the roadway. Fresh vomit was also seen on the ground just outside the driver’s door.
Advertisements
Minutes later when Falls officers called to the scene by the probation officer arrived, the driver, Travis Rackison, drove his vehicle into the driveway of his residence on School Lane, exited the vehicle, and stood in the driveway, police said.
A police official noted in a probable cause affidavit that while speaking with Rackison in the driveway of the home, his eyes were red and watery, his speech slurred and thick-tongued, and his gait was unsteady. Rackison continued to sway back and forth while speaking with officers, even leaning against his vehicle several times to aid his balance.
Rackison, after failing a series of field sobriety tests, told officers he had consumed “a couple beers” prior to the incident, police said.
Advertisements
According to court documents, Rackison then refused to comply with officers so he could be taken into custody. Instead, he ran towards his vehicle, punching the vehicle’s doors with his fists, hitting his head against the rear window and hood, all while yelling unintelligible words in a fit of rage.
When officers attempted to handcuff Rackison a third time, he swung his forearm backward, striking the officer in the jaw before wrestling him on and off the ground. The officer sustained redness, swelling, and localized pain in his jaw as well as his knees as a result of the altercation, police said.
Advertisements
Even after Rackison was taken into custody, officers allege he continued to pull away, flex his arms, and act violently.
An additional officer arrived on scene and transported Rackison to Aria-Jefferson Health’s Bucks County Campus where an emergency room nurse drew two vials of blood for toxicological analysis, the results of which are pending, police said.
Rackison was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and DUI. He was arraigned and remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10 percent of $250,000 bail.
Advertisements
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.
