PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A motorcyclist accused of smashing in the back of a woman’s car near Philadelphia’s City Hall while her young children were inside and then waving a gun at her has been sentenced to one to four years in prison, according to court records.
Cody Heron, 27, had pleaded guilty in February to two counts of aggravated assault as well as possession of an instrument of crime in the Oct. 1 attack. He was sentenced to one to four years on one count and five-year probationary terms on two other counts, according to court records.
Heron was among a group of ATV, motorcycle and dirt bike riders that had gathered near City Hall and were around a sedan driven by a 23-year-old woman. Video from another vehicle that went viral showed a motorcyclist wearing a helmet leaving his bike to jump on the back of the sedan, shattering the window with the two young children sitting inside. What appears to be a handgun drops from his waistband and he then appears to wave it at her as she emerges from the car, then headbutts and pushes her as she confronts him.
Defense attorney Justin Capek told The Philadelphia Inquirer in a statement Wednesday night that his client “wholeheartedly accepted responsibility” and had offered his apology to the woman and her young children.
Capek called the sentence “fair and just” for his client and added that it “does not foreclose upon his ability to be rehabilitated.” He said Heron ”looks forward to reintegrating into society as a law-abiding citizen” and wanted to “move past this aberrant scar on his legacy.”
Court documents note that he will be “eligible/recommended” for the corrections department’s “motivational boot camp program,” a six-month military style program meant to reduce recidivism, and would also get credit for time served.
