Police activity Credit: Geralt / Pixabay.com
Brandon Ross Fontaine, 37, of the 5000 block of McCallum Street in Philadelphia, is facing felony aggravated assault charge, and others charges, stemming from an incident in Elkins Park.
On Sept. 5, around 8:57 a.m., an officer from the Cheltenham Police Department was on patrol when he observed a male with long red hair and female verbally arguing near the intersection of Old York Road and Webb Road, according to police.
The officer saw the male, later identified as Fontaine, holding a knife in their right hand, pointing it in the direction of the female, and yelling at her, according to police.
The officer exited his vehicle and asked Fontaine to stop and come speak with the officer. Fontaine ignored the officer’s commands, and started walking in the opposite direction.
The officer noticed that Fontaine tucked the knife inside of his pants and continued walking away from the police. At one point, Fontaine began to walk back toward the officer and quickly pulled the knife out from its case, according to police.
Fontaine approached the female again, but was not making any threats toward her, according to police. While waiting for backup officers to arrive on scene, the police officer on patrol tried to negotiate with Fontaine for about two minutes. During that time, Fontaine told officers that “I’m not doing it hero boy” and “drop your sh*t,” meaning the officer’s firearm. Fontaine also told the officer “you don’t give me commands,” according to police.
Around 9:06 a.m., the police officer saw Fontaine hand the knife over to the female, who put it in her purse. As backup officers arrived and began to take Fontaine into custody, the female placed her body between the officer and Fontaine, attempting to prevent the police officer from detaining Fontaine. As the officer grabbed Fontaine’s right arm to place him in handcuffs, the female tried to pull the police officer off Fontaine. This resulted in the female being tased by a responding police officer, according to police.
Fontaine continued to refuse to show police his hands and tucked them into his shirt, preventing police from handcuffing him. Officers were eventually able to detain the suspect.
Fontaine now faces multiple felony charges of aggravated assault.
Bail was originally set at $75,000, but was reduced to $25,000 three days later.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. before Magisterial District Judge R. Emmett Madden.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
