Man Flees From Police, Jumps in River

Norristown police and firefighters were already having a busy night on Friday when a routine traffic stop ended with them tied up in an hours-long search and resuce operation.

According to a report from the , shortly after 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, officers witnessed a brown Chevy Impala, which they learned later was being driven by 21-year-old Jon Charley, of the 300 block of West Third Street in Bridgeport, run the red light at DeKalb and Lafayette streets, nearly hitting another car in the process.

Officers pulled Charley over on the 200 block of DeKalb, only to have him exit the car and run west toward the Norristown Transportation Center. Officers chased Charley as he ran south across the tracks toward the Riverview Apartments, and then down into the river where he began to swim back towards Bridgeport.

According to the report, officers instructed Charley to stop swimming and return to shore, at which point he began to remove his clothing. At that point, the Norristown Fire Department River Rescue Team was called in to conduct a search and rescue operation, and the DeKalb Street Bridge was closed to traffic.

Officers retunred to the vehicle to question the passenger, who identified Charley as the driver. The car was registered to Charley's father and was turned over to him when he arrived on the scene.

A warrant check revealed that Charley had a suspended driver's license and an active warrant in Tredyffrin for burglary charges.

The search for Charley was called off shortly before 1 a.m. due to low visibility and strong currents that were a danger to emergency responders. Charley was unable to be located.

Charley is being charged with resisting arrest, recklessly endangering, disorderly conduct, and failure to obey traffic control signals.

Anyone with knowledge of Charley's whereabouts is asked to call Norristown Police at 610-270-0977.