Man Accused Of Causing Chaos, Injuring Officer

A Bristol Borough police SUV on a scene. File photo.

A Bristol Borough man has been charged following a chaotic incident Thursday night, according to police.

On Thursday, residents from the 900 block of Pond Street came to the Bristol Borough Police Department to file a report that their neighbor – Christopher Dow, 38. He had reportedly been on his porch around 11 p.m. the night before. He appeared to be under the influence and neighbors were worried. Dow was said to have a firearm, which he had racked before going inside, according to court papers.

Later on Thursday, a resident flagged down an officer and said there was a man walking in the middle of Pond Street without a shirt on who punched his vehicle’s driver-side mirror and fender, police said.

As an officer was responding to Pond Street, dispatch diverted him to the nearby 400 block of Lafayette Street for a report of two men in a fight, police said.

Officers arrived and found Dow, who was “irate and agitated,” police said.

Dow was placed into custody.

The man who had been tussling with Dow reported the 38 year old tossed a log at his vehicle but he kept going. Once at his residence on Lafayette Street, Dow ran toward the man and wanted to fight, police said.

Bystanders helped detain Dow before police arrived, authorities said.

The man who Dow attacked had been armed, police said.

While sitting in an officer’s patrol vehicle following his arrest, Dow, who is White, called the officer, who is a person of color, a racist slur and asked if he was a communist, police said.

The man became angry when the officer asked him to stop. Dow then threatened to kill the officer if he was a communist, police said.

While being taken to the police department, Dow again threatened to kill the officer, police said.

At the station, Dow pleaded for his handcuffs to be taken off and then refused to enter a holding cell, police said.

Dow eventually “intentionally” hit the officer in the face with his head, causing an injury, police said.

Dow was preliminarily arraigned early Friday morning by on-call District Judge Jan Vislosky on charges of aggravated assault, terroristic threats, simple assault, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, and public drunkenness. He was released after a York County bail bondsman posted surety bonds on the 10 percent of $100,000 bail.

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.