Upper Moreland Township Police Department Photo by James Short.
Drake Gerth, 52, of 100 block of Allison Road in Horsham, has been charged with criminal trespass stemming from an incident in the Blair Mill Village East Apartments, 3855 Blair Mill Road, in which he attempted to gain entry into an apartment by breaking the glass door of the patio with a flashlight, all while exposing himself.
On April 17, the Upper Moreland Police Department received multiple 9-1-1 calls reporting that a male, later identified as Gerth, was banging on a glass window from a resident’s patio and screaming for help.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, the victim was in his apartment with his step-son, his adult son and his bed-ridden wife when the defendant appeared on his patio. The defendant started banging on the unlocked sliding glass door that leads out to the patio. Gerth, according to police, used all his weight and a flash light to break the glass of the sliding door. The defendant was hitting the glass door so hard that the flash light shattered into small pieces, according to police.
According to the victim, the defendant had his pants pulled down and his genitals were exposed while attempting to break into his apartment. Gerth also broke several items on the patio that belonged to the victim.
The resident of the apartment got up and began using his body weight to apply counter force to prevent the defendant from breaking the glass and gaining entry into the apartment. Fearing that Gerth was going to gain entry into the apartment, the defendant armed himself with a golf club, according to police.
On April 18, police officers conducted an investigation into the defendant, at which point it was revealed that Gerth was arrested a month prior (March 16) for Criminal Trespass at a different apartment at Blair Mill Village East Apartments. Gerth told police that he broke into the apartment because he believed someone was chasing him with a gun, according to police.
Gerth was arraigned and told he was not allowed back at the Blair Mill Village East Apartments. Police recovered several pieces of metal from the broken flash light on the patio.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
