DOYLESTOWN, Pa., March 30 (UPI) -- A Philadelphia-area man was sentenced to three months in jail for pointing a gun at a maintenance man who had covered his illegally parked car with snow.
Eddie Simmons Jr. of Bensalem, Pa., pleaded guilty Tuesday to several misdemeanors, including assault and possession of an unregistered firearm, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Judge John Rufe banned Simmons from owning a gun and ordered him to undergo a mental-health evaluation and spend two years on probation.
Because he has been in jail since his arrest Jan. 12, Simmons will be eligible for release in two weeks. He said he is "embarrassed and ashamed" by the incident.
Simmons had recently moved to Philadelphia from coastal North Carolina, where his sister is an assistant prosecutor in Dare County. He arrived in time for a difficult winter.
Lawyer Craig Penglase said Simmons got home from work one January night and found no open parking spots at his apartment complex, so he parked in a space marked as a tow zone.
"And their retribution was to plow him in with their plows and blow him in with their snowblowers," Penglase said. "He acted rashly in a moment of anger. I can't condone it, but I certainly understand it."
