Pa. state trooper sentenced to probation for firing his gun during road-rage dispute
David Levy told Chester County detectives he didn't realize his gun had gone off when he confronted a couple that he believed had been driving recklessly.
A Pennsylvania state trooper was sentenced to two years’ probation for brandishing his gun at a Chester County couple during a road-rage incident while he was off duty in December 2022, officials said Thursday.
David Levy, 37, pleaded guilty late Wednesday to official oppression, simple assault, reckless endangerment, and related crimes for blocking the couple’s car with his Mazda CX5 and accidentally firing his gun into its dashboard while the vehicles were stopped on an access ramp to Route 1 near Longwood Gardens.
No one was injured. The interaction was recorded on a dashboard camera mounted in the couple’s car, and that footage helped police identify Levy’s SUV.
As a condition of his plea, Levy must undergo anger management classes and is barred from contacting the victims, according to a statement from Chester County District Attorney Chris de Barrena-Sarobe. Levy is also likely to be fired as a result of his conviction for a misdemeanor offense, the prosecutor said.
A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Police could not be reached for comment. Levy’s attorney, Mike Noone, declined to comment Thursday.
The couple told police they first encountered Levy on Dec. 30, 2022, as they were driving toward Longwood Gardens on Route 1 near Lenape Road, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Levy’s arrest. Their vehicle and Levy’s were stuck behind two slow-moving pickup trucks blocking both lanes of traffic, the affidavit said.
When Route 1 expanded to three lanes, Levy drove into the right lane, passing one of the trucks, the document said. When the couple pulled behind Levy’s SUV, the affidavit said, he suddenly hit his brakes, and the couple flashed their vehicle’s high beams at him.
The couple then passed Levy, who then attempted to pass their vehicle illegally on the right shoulder of the road, the affidavit said. When the couple attempted to block him from doing so, they later told investigators, he swung his Mazda into their lane, forcing them off the road to avoid a collision.
When the couple left Route 1 via an exit ramp to Longwood Gardens, Levy drove up a grassy hill and blocked their vehicle, they said. The couple said they heard a gunshot as Levy got out of his vehicle to approach theirs. He yelled that he was a state police trooper and accused them of driving recklessly, the affidavit said.
Levy left after the woman in the car said she was calling the police and had a dashcam in her car.
About an hour later, Levy approached a Kennett Township police officer who was near the scene, identified himself as a state trooper and said he had been involved in a road-rage incident, the affidavit said.
In a later interview with Chester County detectives, Levy said he had finished his shift that day at 2:30 p.m. and had gone to a local bar, where he drank three beers, according to the affidavit. He said he later got into a dispute with an aggressive driver and had pulled a vehicle over after “activating” himself as a state trooper.
Levy said he didn’t realize he had fired his gun during the incident and had done so accidentally. Levy told the detectives he let the driver go after realizing he man was not the driver who had been driving recklessly, the affidavit said.
Levy said he had not called 911 or notified police dispatch about the allegedly reckless driver.