The former Chalfont Borough police officer accused of faking his own on-duty shooting waived his preliminary hearing on Thursday.
Jon Cousin, 30, is facing misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct, false alarms to agencies of public safety, false reports to law enforcement, official oppression and possession of an instrument of crime.
Prosecutors dropped a charge of recklessly endangering another person and added a count of official oppression.
The new charge is related to the numerous traffic stops police made in their search for the suspects. Cousin said he was shot during an early morning traffic stop at the Lenape Valley Swim Club on Westview Avenue in Chalfont in late August.
District Attorney David Heckler previously called the shooting a “figment” of Cousin’s imagination.
A formal arraignment is set to be held at county court in Doylestown on November 9.
Cousin, who graduated from Haddonfield High School, in New Jersey, in 2000, had been with the Chalfont's small borough police department for three years. He did not appear at his hearing because the charges were being waived, Cousin’s Bensalem-based defense attorney Michael H. Applebaum said.
Cousin has been fulfilling court-order mental health health treatment, according to Applebaum. The attorney would not reveal where his client currently is residing.
When asked how Cousin’s family - a wife and four young children - is handling the situation, Applebaum said, “They’re supportive of him.”
Investigators began questioning Cousin’s story shortly after responding to the officer’s reported shooting on August 27. He told authorities several suspects attacked and shot him in his bullet-proof vest as he tried to conduct a stop on their suspcious vehicle.
A ballistics examination of the .380 revolver slug lodged in the officer’s vest added evidence to support the authorities’ early doubts, as did the fact that Cousin had no visible impact injuries.
Cousin was taken into custody in Doylestown on August 28 and sent to the Bucks County Prison. Shortly after, he was released on 10 percent of $150,000 bail was granted along with a mental health treatment order.
A motive for the incident has not yet been disclosed.
Related:
Hearing for Chalfont Cop Continued
Preliminary Hearing Against Chalfont Cop Set for Sept. 6
DA: Chalfont Officer Faked Shooting
Bucks County Officer Shot; Vest Stopped Bullet
