Germantown man accused of assaulting medics, trying to steal fire truck held for trial

 Police respond to one crazy scene. (Photo courtesy of NBC10)

Police respond to one crazy scene. (Photo courtesy of NBC10)

A Germantown man accused of assaulting two Philadelphia Fire Department paramedics was held for trial Tuesday.

Just before 6 a.m. on June 17, medics loaded an unconscious Kenneth Moore into an ambulance after he was struck by a car on Roosevelt Boulevard near Berkeley Street in Germantown, according to testimony.

As the vehicle made its way towards Temple University Hospital, David Sullivan, one of two medics on board, prepared to place an intravenous line in the 40-year-old patient’s arm. With the needle still in Sullivan’s hands, Moore allegedly popped up and punched him in the face.

“I was dazed and confused for a minute or two,” said Sullivan during Tuesday’s preliminary hearing.

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It was just the start of the unexpected episode.

Wild ride

As her partner shook off the blow, Aja Johnson said she tried to restrain Moore. He allegedly responded by punching and kicking her about a dozen times and ultimately threw Johnson onto the floor of the ambulance, according to testimony.

Sullivan then took a shot at restraining Moore. This time, Sullivan said Moore stretched apart a pair of trauma scissors and nicked him on the forearm.

In response to the commotion, the ambulance’s driver slammed on the brakes to throw Moore off-balance.

With the police alerted via an emergency button inside the ambulance, Johnson and Sullivan took the opportunity to flee the vehicle.

Moore followed.

Rampaging patient

Still linked to a two-foot oxygen tank, Moore chased Sullivan and Johnson up the street, said Sullivan. At one point, Moore heaved the aluminum canister into the driver-side windshield of a fire engine that had been following the ambulance, he said.

According to police, Moore then attempted to steal the fire engine.

Officers reportedly had to taze him before he was finally transported to the hospital for treatment.

Sullivan said he was placed on injured duty for two weeks following the incident as a result of dizziness and other symptoms he suffered afterwards.

Johnson said she returned to work after one day on injured duty.

No details about initial car strike

Details around how a car struck Moore were not discussed during Tuesday’s preliminary hearing.

Following testimony from Sullivan and Johnson, Moore’s attorney, Eugene Tinari, argued that the case should be discharged.

“He didn’t intend to harm medical personnel that day,” said Tinari. “It was a reaction.”

Assistant District Attorney Chimdi Nwosu disagreed, calling what Moore did a “catastrophe” and not “just a one-punch reaction.”

Municipal Court Judge Frank Brady, who presided over the hearing, said that difference of opinion was essentially what warranted proceeding further with the case.

It’s unclear, he said, whether Moore acted intentionally or as a result of “not being in his right mind.”

Moore, of the 500 block of W. Abbottsford Ave., will return to court July 23 to be arraigned.

He is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment.

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