The brother of Pennsylvania’s Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, tased a man in front of his wife and “physically challenged adopted” adult son in 2014 during a road rage incident, according to an affidavit obtained by Breitbart News.
The incident began to unfold on the afternoon of May 17, 2014, on Route 581 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, according to a probable cause affidavit. The then 52-year-old victim, Scott Kramer, was traveling westbound with his wife Rose, 59, and their then-39-year-old “physically challenged adopted son, Jason Dickson,” when he said a speeding Fetterman tried to merge in front of him as they approached the Trindle Road exit, according to the document.
“Kramer stated that there [sic] nearly a collision and that Fetterman was forced to merge behind him in order to make the exit,” wrote a Hampden Township police corporal in the affidavit.
Kramer said he took the exit and merged onto Central Boulevard, entering a “left hand turn lane at the red light for Trindle Road,” and Fetterman subsequently pulled up to his passenger door, according to the affidavit.
He later told officers “that he took offense to Fetterman’s driving,” and exited his vehicle and approached Fetterman’s vehicle.
“Kramer stated that… he was approximately 4 to 5 feet away from Fetterman, when he realized Fetterman was pointing a taser at him,” read the affidavit. The victim said he began to back away before Fetterman shot the taser, striking him in the chest. He informed authorities that he fell to the ground before removing the wires and that Fetterman immediately fled the area.
A police criminal complaint states that “medical personnel” were required to cut the “taser probes” from Kramer’s body.
Fetterman, who was headed to a birthday party with his two young children, said he warned Kramer he had a taser before discharging it, according to the affidavit. He admitted to fleeing because he was “scared” and called 911.
“I was defending myself and my young children from a 6’, 300 lbs enraged individual,” Gregg Fetterman told Breitbart News in response to a comment request from his brother’s campaign. “He blocked us in so we couldn’t drive away, then got out of his own car yelling and aggressively approaching us.”
“I never got out of my vehicle. After acting in self-defense, I drove away as soon as I was able and immediately called 911 and reported this unfortunate incident to law enforcement,” he added.
At around 2:36 p.m., Cumberland County Communication alerted the officer who wrote the affidavit to the incident, and he “responded to the scene emergency with [his] lights and siren activated.”
Authorities directed Fetterman, who told dispatch Kramer was following him, to drive to the Hampden Township Police Department, but Fetterman missed a turn and instead went to the Mechanicsburg Police Department, per the affidavit. Once the officer arrived at the scene, he found Mechanicsburg officers speaking with both motorists before obtaining their accounts of the incident.
An arrest date is not listed on documents, though the responding officer who wrote the affidavit is listed as the arresting officer. The affidavit and criminal complaint were not filed until June 11, 2014. Fetterman was charged with harassment, 18 § 2709 §§ A1 in the Pennsylvania code, and a $5,000 unsecured bail was set on August 14, 2014, per the documents.
“A person commits the crime of harassment when, with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another, the person: strikes, shoves, kicks or otherwise subjects the other person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same,” the code reads.
He pleaded nolo contendere to the harassment charge the following March, according to a Court of Common Pleas Cumberland County criminal docket. He had to pay $1,089.40 in restitution.
“In a criminal proceeding, a defendant may enter a plea of nolo contendere, in which the defendant does not accept or deny responsibility for the charges but agrees to accept punishment,” Cornell Law School notes.
Gregg Fetterman has contributed tens of thousands of dollars to committees and PACs supporting John’s political endeavors throughout the years. John Fetterman’s campaign, the Fetterman for PA committee, received $5,690 from Gregg Fetterman in 2021, Federal Election Commission records show.
State campaign finance reports show that in 2018, he contributed at least $26,000 to John’s lieutenant governor campaign, which was preceded by a $10,000 donation in 2017. He donated $5,400 in 2015 to John Fetterman’s failed 2016 U.S. Senate campaign.
Finally, as Open Secrets reported, Gregg Fetterman and his father, Karl, contributed at least $126,000 to the pro-John Fetterman 15104 PAC. The PACs’ name is an apparent ode to the zip code of Braddock, PA, where Fetterman served as mayor for more than a decade.