A Reading woman who was charged with rioting after unrest in September has been held in court on other counts, including aggravated assault and obstructing law enforcement. The disruption took place near City Park as a large crowd gathered there for the Puerto Rican Reading Day celebration.
Prosecutors withdrew charges of rioting and resisting arrest against Amy K. Sanchez, 21, of the 1200 block of Perkiomen Avenue, in a preliminary hearing Friday at Reading Central Court.
District Judge Stuart D. Kennedy, however, ordered Sanchez to stand trial for aggravated assault, obstruction of law enforcement, and disorderly conduct.
Sanchez remains free on $ 5,000 bond pending further legal action.
Police provided the following account in court records:
On Sunday, September 26, Constable Tim Morris used his police radio to report an officer in danger after a large crowd was drawn to the 1200 block of Hill Road near City Park after forcibly evicting a driver who refused to get out of his vehicle. . Driver Angelica M. Rodriguez, 20, of Reading, was reversing the vehicle when Morris entered the cabin and applied the emergency brake.
One of Rodriguez’s passengers was Amy Sanchez, who pulled over and sat on Rodriguez’s lap to prevent the officer from removing him.
He eventually removed her and took her to the ground. The commotion drew a crowd of people who started yelling at the officer, prompting him to seek help from other officers.
Officer William Fursin II was stationed on the east side of the block. He ran towards Morris as he held Rodriguez back. Morris yelled at Fursin to make everyone back down.
Fursin ordered everyone to back down and pushed back those who did not respond. One of them was Sanchez, who got out of the vehicle after his friend pulled out.
After being pushed by the officer, Sanchez walked up to him and ignored his orders to back down. When he pushed her a second time, she hit him on the left shoulder. He pushed her again and she hit him on the shoulder again.
Fursin learned from Morris that the incident started when Rodriguez was driving an SUV with two female passengers hanging from the windows as they sat on the window frames. He tried to stop the vehicle at Perkiomen Avenue and Hill Road, but Rodriguez continued to drive east on Hill until the vehicle was blocked by a double parked car.
He approached the driver’s door and spoke to Rodriguez, whose breath smelled of alcohol. She didn’t have a driver’s license.
As Morris returned to his patrol vehicle, Rodriguez slowly began to walk away. He returned to the SUV and told her to stop, but she refused and started to back up.
After refusing further orders to stop and turn off the vehicle, Morris opened the driver’s door, applied the parking brake, and changed the transmission to park. Rodriguez refused to get out of the vehicle and Morris attempted to handcuff his left wrist.
Rodriguez started shouting “Help!” Morr grabbed both of her wrists and pulled her out of the vehicle. In doing so, the vehicle backed up slightly and was struck by the open door.
Rodriguez of the 1200 block of Oley Street remains free on $ 5,000 bond to await a hearing on charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, impaired driving, disorderly driving and safe driving. allowed.
A second passenger was in the vehicle but could not be identified due to the chaos, police said.
