UPDATED: Man Shot By Cop Had Just Robbed Store, Detectives Allege

File photo. Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 5:35 p.m. on Thursday with new comments and information from the press conference on the case.

A Bristol Township man shot by a police officer earlier this month is facing new charges as the district attorney is speaking out.

John Thomas Mathis, 44, of Levittown, is scheduled to be preliminarily arraigned Friday morning before District Judge Michael Gallagher. The charges listed on the court docket include robbery, simple assault, theft, possession of a weapon, and evading arrest or detention.

John Thomas Mathis. Credit: Bristol Township police

Mathis, who has a long criminal history, is being held at the Bucks County Correctional Facility after he was released from a hospital after being treated for gunshot wounds he sustained on Saturday, Aug. 2.

According to Bucks County Detectives, an hour before he was shot in Bensalem Township, Mathis allegedly committed a gunpoint robbery at a Philadelphia cell phone shop. He reportedly fled on a motorcycle with $944 cash.

A Bucks County Probation and Parole Department officer later identified Mathis from surveillance video of the robbery.

The officer, who has been meeting with Mathis for months, also told detectives that Mathis had cut off his GPS ankle monitor and absconded before the robbery.

The Bensalem Township incident began at approximately 5:43 p.m. on Aug. 2, when an officer was dispatched to a report of an armed confrontation, according to the district attorney’s office.

A man reported that a motorcyclist, who was later identified as Mathis, engaged in aggressive driving, pointed a handgun at his face, and threatened to rob him. The victim drove away and called 9-1-1 to report that Mathis was following him, police said.

An officer responded and positioned his patrol vehicle between the victim’s car and Mathis’ motorcycle at Route 13 and Appleton Avenue, police said.

The male and female victims in the car told police they heard the officer issue verbal commands before seeing Mathis run away from his motorcycle. They then heard three gunshots and saw Mathis fall to the ground, police said.

A number of officers rushed to the scene and provided medical aid to Mathis until an ambulance transported him to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital in Philadelphia.

“Obviously, these facts are quite concerning in that this individual terrorized a clerk at a cell phone store and then terrorized two individuals just randomly driving on a Saturday evening in the summer, putting all of them in fear for their life,” Schorn said at a Thursday afternoon press conference.

Mathis sustained two gunshot wounds to his left shoulder blade area and one to his right armpit area, the district attorney’s office said.

The officer who fired the shots has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard policy for the Bensalem Township Police Department, as the county detectives investigate.

Bensalem Township Director of Public Safety William McVeigh commended the responding officer’s actions during the incident that led to Mathis being shot.

“That officer acted as he’s trained to act. He was extremely professional and courageous in what he did, and he put himself in harm’s way to protect those victims, but also took the necessary action to end the threat on the street that day,” McVeigh said.

At the time of the robbery and shooting, Mathis was wanted for a late July road-rage incident in Bristol Township, according to police.

In the July 27 incident, Mathis allegedly used a baseball bat to smash a car’s windshield.

For that case, Mathis was remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility with bail set at 10 percent of $1 million. Mathis also had outstanding bench warrants for his arrest.

In a press release, prosecutors said Mathis has a history of aggressive behavior and numerous open criminal cases in Bucks County, including aggravated assault while driving under the influence and fleeing from police.

“The sum total of this defendant’s actions are quite concerning. He should have never been in the community,” Schorn said.

According to the district attorney’s office, Mathis was placed on pretrial supervision with a GPS monitor in May, despite the district attorney’s objections. He later violated his release conditions and cut off his monitor, leading to the revocation of his bail and the issuance of new warrants.

Deputy District Attorney Megan Hunsicker had been aggressively attempting to address violations of Mathis’s terms of pretrial release prior to these incidents, Schorn told reporters.

“This was not by any agreement with the district attorney’s office. We were opposed to his being released. We were affirmatively pursuing violations of his terms of pretrial release,” she said.

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.

Advertisement