Frankford man charged with assault in the viral Center City motorcyclist confrontation

It was a video that went viral of a Center City confrontation, captured by a tourist on a double-decker bus. A man who had been operating a motorcycle near City Hall, among a crowd of ATV, dirt bike and motorcycle riders, jumped onto the back of a car with two women and two young children inside and stomped on the windshield, sending glass flying.

On Wednesday, the District Attorney’s Office announced that it had charged Cody Heron, 26, with multiple counts of aggravated assault, possession of an instrument of crime, and related crimes for destroying the car’s windshield and headbutting the driver while Heron still had his helmet on.

Heron was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday and the District Attorney’s Office was seeking that bail be set at $5 million, a spokesperson for the office said.

On Wednesday night, Heron was arraigned and bail was set at 10% of $2,500,000. Court records did not list an attorney representing Heron.

At a news conference with prosecutors, Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford called Heron’s alleged actions “despicable behavior” and vowed that police would do all they could to deter lawless behavior by groups riding motorcycles and ATVs throughout the city.

“People are fed up with it,” Stanford said.

As authorities announced the arrest, questions still linger. How does law enforcement combat ATV and motorcycle meetups? A patrol car was seen on video just a few car lengths behind the altercation — a police official earlier told The Inquirer that it was unclear if the officer or officers in the car had seen the confrontation or could get to them through the crowd of ATVs, dirt bikes, and motorcycles.

Authorities were able to narrow in on Heron after the video prompted a wave of tips, said Interim First Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore. One initial tip gave police the wrong name, before other tips, including from Heron’s employer, led them to Heron’s home on the 4500 block of East Stiles Street, in Frankford.

When police arrested Heron, they found a loaded 9mm handgun seen in the video, a spokesperson for the DA’s office said. Police also found the gold-and-black helmet, a T-shirt with the words “You Ain’t No Killa” on the back, and sneakers and pants the motorcyclist was seen wearing in the video.

Police also confiscated the motorcycle Heron was allegedly riding.

At the Wednesday news conference, Councilmember Mark Squilla said “this arrest will send a message that this will not be tolerated.”

The assault happened Sunday night, when a group of ATV, motorcycle, and dirt bike riders surrounded a burgundy Ford Fusion driven by Nikki Bullock, 23, who was making deliveries for UberEats as her 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son rode along. There was another female adult in the car.

A motorcyclist in a black-and-gold helmet got off the bike to jump on the back of the sedan, shattering the window where Bullock’s two children were seated, according to the video. When the motorcyclist dismounted from the car, what appeared to be a handgun fell from his waistband. The video apparently shows him pointing it at Bullock when she exited the car to confront him, eventually headbutting her.

A video of the altercation was first uploaded to Instagram Monday by user George Coloney — who said he was a tourist on a sightseeing tour — and has since been viewed more than 1.4 million times.

“It was a little gun and at that point, my windshield was already broken so, what was he really going to do to me?” Bullock told NBC10 about the confrontation. “I’m just grateful that my kids are okay. There’s not a scratch on them.”

Multiple attempts to reach Bullock were unsuccessful.

Questions arose again at the Wednesday news conference about the Philadelphia police patrol car seen on the video.

Vanore previously told The Inquirer that it was unclear if the officer or officers in the car had seen the confrontation, saying it appeared the car was caught in traffic and he didn’t “think that car could reach them.”

On Wednesday, Stanford said the department was looking into whether the officer or officers in that patrol car observed anything. Bullock filed a police report Sunday night, Stanford said, prompting the department’s investigation of the altercation. Officials did not address whether the officer or officers had been interviewed.

Department protocol is that officers do not chase ATV, dirt bike, and motorcycle riders on city streets because it’s dangerous to others, Stanford said. He added that “it’s not every bike rider in the city” causing trouble.

.

» READ MORE: What we know about the Center City motorcyclist who destroyed car, attacked driver

» READ MORE: Philadelphia Police narrowing in on suspect who stomped out driver’s windshield