Norristown officer charged with striking naked man with patrol vehicle

A Norristown police sergeant is facing charges after officials said his vehicle struck a naked man who was standing in the middle of an intersection.

Daniel DeOrzio, 52, a Norristown Police Sergeant, has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, official oppression and recklessly endangering another person, following an investigation, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele announced.

According to officials, on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, around 8 a.m., officers from the Norristown Police Department received reports of a naked man in the middle of the intersection of West Airy and Stanbridge streets. Additional information provided to the police was that the man was screaming and damaging cars.

Officials said when the first patrol car arrived on scene, the naked man, later identified as Justin Rich, approached a police vehicle and attempted to open the doors but was unsuccessful.

Numerous other officers arrived on scene, including a patrol vehicle driven by Sgt. DeOrzio, which stopped behind a gray pick-up truck that was in the travel lane, officials said.

Officials said Sgt. DeOrzio radioed for other officers to have the gray pickup truck move out of the intersection. Once it was moved from the travel lane, Sgt. DeOrzio immediately accelerated his vehicle, striking Rich, who went airborne, landing several feet away in the center of the road.

Rich was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Officials said he was released a few days later on Feb. 6.

Dozens of residents showed up to a town hall in Norristown to express their concerns after a viral video showed a police car hitting a naked man who was standing in the street. NBC10’s Shaira Arias reports. 

Following the incident, officials said an independent investigation was conducted by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau.

“As part of the investigation, County Detectives interviewed numerous officers and civilian witnesses and reviewed video. The police use of force continuum is a policy framework guiding officers to employ the minimum amount of force that is objectively reasonable to control and obtain compliance of subjects. The force options available to an officer are, in order, presence, verbal commands, restraint and control, less lethal weapons and deadly force,” officials said.

The investigation found that Rich was standing in the intersection with his hands on his hips and was not armed with any type of weapon when Sgt. DeOrzio accelerated his police vehicle without giving a warning, according to officials.

Officials explained that Sgt. DeOrzio, who was the highest-ranking officer at the scene, “made the decision to escalate the use of force from officer presence to deadly force in this short period of time, without considering the use of other levels of force at his disposal.”

The investigation also found that there were no verbal commands, tactical coordination, consideration to going hands-on, or utilizing less lethal weapons against Rich, who at the time was committing “misdemeanor offences.”

According to officials, deadly force is defined by the Pennsylvania Crimes Code as:

“Force, which under the circumstance in which it is used, is readily capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.”

“The investigation found that this was not a necessary use of deadly force in this response incident,” said Steele.

Officials said Sgt. DeOrzio turned himself in to Montgomery County Detectives on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 and is awaiting arraignment, at which time bail and a preliminary hearing date will be set.