December 11, 2015- Commonwealth v Alex Martin Pettis:  On December 11, 2015, a Dauphin County jury found Alex Martin Pettis, 25, of Harrisburg, guilty on charges of armed Robbery, Simple Assault, Recklessly Endangering Another Person and Unlawful Possession of Instruments of a Crime.  Shortly after hearing the verdict, Pettis lunged across the courtroom table, and tackled the arresting Lower Swatara Detective, Ryan Gartland, to the ground.  While grappling on the courtroom floor, Pettis punched and attempted to choke out Detective Gartland, while numerous Dauphin County Sheriffs quickly amassed in an effort to subdue Pettis.  Several of Pettis’ family members also stormed the scene, with at least one actively fighting with the Sheriffs as they tried to detain Pettis.  After nearly a minute of struggling, Pettis was finally brought under compliance and taken immediately to Dauphin County Prison.         

Factually, the robbery related charges stemmed an incident that occurred on May 26, 2014, in the area of the Hollywood Motel in Lower Swatara Township, Dauphin County.  On that morning, Pettis and two other persons were running a joint prostitution business by way of the online ad website, backpage.com. At around 4am, the robbery victim responded to a female escort/prostitution ad where he was directed to room 115 of the motel.  Upon arrival, the victim had a brief discussion with the female in room 115, but decided not to participate and walked back to his car parked in the motel lot.  After returning to the car, Alex Pettis suddenly approached the vehicle armed with a silver/black revolver and demanded that the victim turn over cash.  At seeing the firearm, the victim threw his car into reverse and quickly backed up, however Pettis grabbed ahold of the door frame of the car.  Seeing that Pettis was still on his car, the victim shifted the transmission into drive and abruptly accelerated; but, in doing so, lost control and crashed into one of the unoccupied motel rooms. At impact, Pettis was thrown from the car but could be seen on the motel’s surveillance video running from the scene.     

During the three day trial, jurors heard the testimony of the victim, the motel owner, and lead Detective Ryan Gartland, as well as had the opportunity to  review numerous video clips from motel’s camera system.  During the case Pettis also elected to take the stand in his own defense, and under examination of his attorney, Shane Kope, claimed that he never robbed the victim, and that the interaction with the victim was “respectful”.  Following Pettis’ testimony, jurors were permitted to hear evidence that Pettis had previously been convicted of Robbery in 2008.

It took the jury just shy of six hours before reaching the guilty verdict before presiding Judge, the Honorable Scott A. Evans.  Following the verdict, the Judge directed that Pettis’ bail be set at $250,000, remanding him to Dauphin County Prison pending sentence on February 24, 2016, when he faces a possible maximum sentence of up to 29 years incarceration.  

Further, as a result of his unruly outburst and rampage in the open courtroom, Pettis now faces new criminal charges- to include Felony 1 Retaliation against a Witness, and Aggravated Assault. 

The Dauphin County District Attorney’s office applauds the thorough police investigation conducted by the Lower Swatara Police Department, in particular the efforts of Detective Ryan Gartland, and wishes him a quick and safe recovery from the injuries sustained in court at the hands of Alex Pettis.  

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