CRIMINAL CHARGES, AND ANY DISCUSSION THEREOF, ARE MERELY ALLEGATIONS AND ALL DEFENDANTS ARE PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL AND UNLESS PROVEN GUILTY.

Prepared By:  Chief James Gardner
Prepared On:  Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Fireworks Complaints: Over the Memorial Day weekend, Hatboro Police responded to multiple complaints regarding persons setting off fireworks.  While the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania changed the law concerning consumer grade fireworks in 2017, they are still highly regulated in the state.  For example, fireworks may not be used under the following conditions:

• They cannot be ignited or discharged on a public or private property without express permission of the property owner.
• They cannot be discharged from or within a motor vehicle or building.
• They cannot be discharged toward a motor vehicle or building.
• They cannot be discharged within 150 feet of an occupied structure, whether or not a person is actually present.
• They cannot be discharged while the person is under the influence of alcohol, a controlled substance, or another drug.

Additionally, local ordinances, such as noise ordinances, apply.  While warnings were issued over the weekend, the law does provide penalties for those found in violation.  Pennsylvania’s fireworks law may be found at:
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/li/uconsCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&yr=2017&sessInd=0&act=0043.&chpt=000.&subchpt=000.&sctn=043.&subsctn=000

Public Drunkenness: On May 23, 2020 at approximately 3:04 A.M. Hatboro Police arrested Ryan M. Carney, 38, of the 2300 block of Adams Court, North Wales.  Carney was cited and later released for Public Drunkenness and Disorderly Conduct after police responded to a report of a person banging on the windows outside of a home and yelling in the first block of Byberry Road, Hatboro.