Man Convicted After Assaulting Officers, Trying To Evade Bucks Justice Center Security: DA

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — A Philadelphia man was sentenced to between 18 and 48 months in state prison after assaulting Bucks County sheriff's deputies last year, the Bucks County District Attorney's office announced Tuesday.

Jeffrey Dingle, 44, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault and one count each of criminal trespassing, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct, according to a news release.

Dingle injured the deputies on April 21 of 2021 while trying to evade security protocols at the Bucks County Justice Center, the DA's office said. The deputies were sent to the hospital for treatment, with one suffering a fractured orbital bone.

In addition to the state prison sentence, the DA's office said, Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley sentenced Dingle to four years of probation and ordered him to pay $8,000.36 in restitution to cover the medical costs of the deputies.

The sentencing comes after Dingle refused to wear a mask entering the Bucks County Justice Center on April 21, the DA's office said, as was required by an emergency order issued by the judge.

Dingle then placed his items on the X-ray machine conveyer belt went through the metal detector, which sounded an alert to indicate there was something metal on him, according to the release.

He then grabbed his items and began to walk away, ignoring commands by a deputy to stop and return, the DA's office said. Dingle then ran to the stairwell and proceeded to the domestic relations office on the basement level, according to the release, where he then went to the office window and threw a folder behind the counter.

He the turned to responding deputies, continued to refuse commands, punched a sheriff’s sergeant in the face and then punched a deputy in the head, the DA's office said. He continued to resist and spit on one of the deputies, according to their reports.

In court Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney Thomas C. Gannon played surveillance footage that captured the incident, from the moment Dingle entered the Justice Center until he was taken into custody.

“Jeffrey Dingle caused a significant security risk to the Bucks County Criminal Justice Center and the citizens of the community on this date," the sergeant who suffered the fractured orbital bone said in a victim impact statement on Tuesday. "These actions were uncalled for and unnecessary.”

The case was investigated by Bucks County Detective Richard Munger and was prosecuted by Gannon.

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