BUCKS COUNTY, PA (BCDAO) – A Plumstead Township man was convicted Thursday, April 20, 2023, of ethnic intimidation and harassment for a racist rant against an AT&T employee and then later pulling a gun on him.
Tony Ngo, 35, was found guilty by Common Pleas Judge Stephen A. Corr during a waiver trial. The judge then sentenced Ngo to two years of probation and 50 hours of community service and ordered him to have no contact with the victim and the AT&T store at the Cross Keys Place shopping center in Plumstead Township. His firearm was also ordered held pending a forfeiture motion.
During sentencing, Corr called Ngo’s behavior unacceptable. The incident was reported on Sept. 26, 2022, when Plumstead Township Police officers were dispatched at 7:08 p.m. to the AT&T at 4341 Swamp Road on a report of a man with a gun. When police arrived, the man, later identified as Ngo, was no longer on scene.
Police learned that a store employee had been assisting Ngo’s wife regarding the sale of a cellphone. At some point, the wife became frustrated with the employee because she was unable to trade her damaged cell phone in for another phone. The employee encouraged her to return to the store at another time or visit another AT&T store. As Ngo and his wife left the store, he called the employee, a black male, a racial slur several times.
Confused, the employee questioned Ngo as he walked out of the store. The employee walked toward the front door. When he came within 10 feet of Ngo, Ngo aggressively turned toward the employee, paused, and handed his cellphone and wallet to his wife. The wife guided her husband away from the store.
The employee then attempted to take a photo of the registration plate of Ngo’s vehicle, and Ngo exited the vehicle holding a handgun.
Ngo called the employee a racial slur again and Ngo racked the gun, and then placed the gun behind his back, quickly approached the employee and chest bumped him. The wife exited the vehicle and demanded her husband get back in the car, so they could leave.
A man parked behind Ngo’s vehicle witnessed the encounter. After seeing the handgun, the witness said he quickly drove out of the way and around the building for safety reasons.
The witness remarked how calm the employee remained throughout the incident and viewed Ngo as the aggressor.
The incident was also captured on store surveillance.
This case was investigated by the Plumstead Township Police Department and was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Monica W. Furber.
