Darren Edward Ross was arrested after police watched a video a witness took of the incident in the 2100 block of Cedar Run on Thursday, May 25, 2023.
Ross had previously called the wheelchairbound man "making threats to come assault him," and "the victim had just gotten back to the complex from a convenience store and was returning to the apartment when he suddenly observed Ross standing near the entrance to the building," the police said in the release.
That's when the victim observed "what appeared to be a black firearm with an extended magazine at him," according to the police.
Ross then returned to his silver Honda Civic and drove through the grass towards the man, who fled to an area between some parked vehicles– dropping his phone in the parking lot, as detailed in the release.
Ross reversed his vehicle to steal the victim's phone just as the victim reached for it, so Ross then got back into Civic– dragging the man across the parking lot back into the grass, according to the police.
He "accelerated forward at a fast rate of speed as the victim dropped from the vehicle, nearly being run over by the rear tires," the police said.
He was stopped on his way home by police in Hampden Township who searched his Civic and found the phone and an airsoft gun, according to the release.
Ross was charged with aggravated assault, robbery, and terroristic threats, among other offenses, police said and court records confirmed. He has been held in the Dauphin County Prison after being denied bail for "safety," Magisterial District Judge H. Anthony Adams stated in the court docket.
His preliminary hearing has been set before Magisterial District Judge Christopher Delozier at 11:15 a.m. on June 8, 2023, according to his latest court docket.
Ross previously served two years in jail followed by two years of probation for selling marijuana following a "street sweep" in Cumberland County in 2017, court records show.
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