Violent Encounter With Repo Man Leads To Jail Sentence For Montco Man

UPPER MERION, PA — A Montgomery County man was given a county jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault in connection with an incident last year in which he threatened a repo man with a gun.

Johnathan Ortiz, 32, of Upper Merion Township, was sentenced to 11-and-1/2 months to 23 months in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after he admitted in court that he used a deadly weapon to threaten a tow truck operator who was attempting to repossess a vehicle registered to Ortiz, according to court records and media reports.

The court docket in the case shows that Ortiz pleaded guilty late last month to a felony count of aggravated assault-attempts to cause bodily injury with a deadly weapon.

Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas M. DelRicci imposed sentence shortly after accepting the defendant's guilty plea.

Records show Ortiz was ordered to report to county prison on Dec. 1 to begin serving his sentence.

A story in the Mercury newspaper states that Ortiz chased the tow truck driver — who worked for Giannone Companies Towing — on June 3, 2021, and threatened the man with a firearm, after which Ortiz got into his vehicle and tried to run the man off the road several times.

The towing company praised the jail sentence for Ortiz, saying members of their industry are attacked far too often when they are simply doing their jobs.

"Far too often we see many members of our industry attacked, stabbed, shot and/or killed for simply doing their job," the company said in their letter, which was released publicly. "These are not just men and women you may or may not meet in your driveway in the middle of the night. These are real human beings who are brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles and most importantly parents and spouses to their loved ones and most commonly the provider to their household."

The company added that its agents are continuously training on deescalation techniques in the event repossessions ever become hostile.

The company said that while it was originally hoping for a state prison sentence for Ortiz, it is "satisfied with the agreement made with prosecutors, and only hope the defendant takes full advantage of the programs provided to him through the county correctional system to become a decent and productive member of society upon his release."

The tow truck operator had reportedly been sent to Ortiz's home at around 7:15 a.m. that day last year and was in the process of starting repossession proceedings against the defendant's Dodge Journey when Ortiz began yelling and jumped on to the tow truck to try and prevent repossession, the Mercury report states.

Oritz then retrieved a gun and began chasing after the tow truck driver, who was reporting driving away from the scene with his head ducked down because he feared being shot.

The defendant ultimately caught up to the tow truck and smacked the gun against the passenger side window of the tow truck threatening the driver further, the article states.

The tow truck driver reportedly attempted to repossess Ortiz's vehicle on two prior occasions before this incident.

Court records in the case show that Judge DelRicci also gave Ortiz two years of probation, and he ordered Ortiz to have no further contact with the victim.

The docket sheet in the case shows that Ortiz had originally been charged with other felony and misdemeanor counts, but those charges were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea on the aggravated assault count.

Those charges included an additional aggravated assault felony count, as well as charges of terroristic threats, carrying a firearm without a license, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person.

Court records show that the case was prosecuted by Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Tanner Christian Beck.

Ortiz was represented by Norristown-based defense attorney Stephen Dean Stewart, Jr.