PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A man seen in a viral video smashing a driver’s rear window and pointing a gun at her in the presence of her children was sentenced to 1-4 years in prison on Wednesday.
Cody Heron, 27, went viral after a video was recorded near Philadelphia City Hall in October 2023, he showed himself getting off a dirt bike and confronting Nikki Bullock, a delivery driver who was standing in traffic next to Heron and several other dirt bikes and ATVs when the two got into an argument.
The video showed Bullock getting out of her car to confront Heron, who then pulled out a gun and headbutted Bullock, police said. He was later seen in the video jumping up and down on the back window of Bullock’s car, smashing it and sending shards of glass to her two young children inside.
Police later tracked Heron and the bicycle to a location in the Frankford section of Philadelphia and arrested him.
Heron pleaded guilty in February 2024 to aggravated assault and felony possession.
The judge at Wednesday’s sentencing in a Philadelphia courtroom gave Heron credit for time served. He is also sentenced to five years’ probation for aggravated assault.
Heron could be released on parole as soon as October.
Justin Capek, an attorney representing Heron, issued a statement:
“The court has carefully considered the legislative purposes of sentencing and the sentencing factors, and has granted Mr. Heron a fair and proper trial that does not preclude his ability to rehabilitate, but is also sufficient, but not greater than is necessary to hand out very serious punishments. serious crimes for which he wholeheartedly accepts responsibility.”
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office asked for 3 to 6 years in prison, while the defense asked for 11.5 to 23 months with parole and home confinement, followed by probation. Defense attorneys said Heron showed remorse for the incident and accepted responsibility.
At sentencing, the judge said the “first step to redemption is accepting responsibility.”
Heron addressed the court in tears and expressed deep regret for his actions. He said he wishes he could personally apologize to the victims and hopes they can forgive him.
When he was charged, members of the district attorney’s office viewed it as an action against dirt bike riders. Philadelphia police say they have also increased enforcement this year.
“This is a shot in the arm for the dirt bike riders in this city that we are done with dirt bikes. We are going to do everything we can to prosecute when these cases are brought to us,” Bill Fritze, supervisor of the Gun Violence Task Force, said at a press conference in February after Heron’s plea.
After the video first went viral, two local entrepreneurs, Otto Hernandez of Otto Glass and Thomas Montgomery of The Wiz Cafe, Bullock’s windshield replaced free.
