A Plumstead Township man was convicted 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 Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Stephen A. Corr during a waiver trial Thursday. 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, the Bucks County District Attorney’s office said, 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 there. 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 man, a racial slur several times, the DAs office said. 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 DAs office said. 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 DAs office said.
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 told Plumstead police he quickly drove out of the way and around the building for safety reasons. The witness remarked on how calm the employee remained throughout the incident and viewed Ngo as the aggressor, the DAs office said. The incident was also captured on store surveillance.
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