Evesham police say couple plotted to kill officers. What happened on Marlborough Avenue?

EVESHAM – A couple is accused of plotting to kill police after a man reportedly tried to run down two officers and rammed a police K9 vehicle early Sunday.

The officers jumped out of the path of a car driven by 33-year-old Marc Ferraiolo and were unharmed, Chief Walt Miller said at a news conference late Sunday morning. Department K9 Tango, who was inside the parked police vehicle, received veterinary care.

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“We're lucky; this could have been really, really bad,” Miller said of the incident that began with a 1 a.m. police pursuit and ended shortly after 2 a.m. with the arrest of Ferraiolo and his wife, 42-year-old Ruth Patton.

They are charged with multiple crimes, including two counts against Ferraiolo of attempted murder of a police officer.

Miller called the couple’s alleged plot to use their vehicle as a weapon “a grim reminder of the dangers that officers face every day.”

The couple, who have been the subject of numerous neighborhood complaints and police interactions, hatched their plan to kill two officers earlier in the evening, Miller alleged.

"Their plan didn't identify two specific officers," he said. "Their plan was just to kill two Evesham police officers — whoever they were able to encounter that night"

When did Evesham police engage with Marc Ferraiolo and Ruth Patton?

Officers had responded at 1 a.m. to an unrelated traffic accident on Taunton Lake Road when a Hyundai Genesis sped toward them at an estimated 80 mph, Miller said.

Other officers in the area, alerted by a radio description of the vehicle, attempted to stop the car at Willow Bend and Evans roads.

The driver did not pull over, but instead ran a red light.

Officers initially gave chase, but called it off for safety reasons after recognizing Ferraiolo from "numerous recent contacts."

Officers secured an eluding warrant and went to Ferraiolo's home to wait for his return to the Heritage Vilalge neighborhood.

What happened at the home in Heritage Village?

According to Miller, Ferraiolo pulled into his driveway on the first block of Marlborough Avenue and his wife left the vehicle, allegedly "shouting violent threats."

Police pulled up behind Ferraiolo and ordered him to leave his vehicle. But the man pulled forward, then sped backward out of his driveway, almost hitting two officers and striking a police vehicle that held Tango.

"This appeared to be a purposeful collision with a patrol vehicle," the chief said.

"Marc Ferraiolo then drove directly towards two officers who had evaded him while he was backing out of his driveway. This was also a purposeful act to hit the officers with his vehicle," Miller continued.

He said Ferraiolo drove across lawns before hitting the K9 vehicle three more times "with maximum force" before attempting to flee.

Miller praised the actions of responding officers, saying "they handled themselves very well."

"The officers out there were confronted with a potential deadly-force situation and they were making those decisions very quickly,” he observed.

Ferraiolo next struck a responding police vehicle before colliding at a high rate of speed with another patrol car and a parked vehicle on Marlborough Avenue by Azalea Terrace.

The collisions disabled the Genesis.

Police said officers broke a window on the car and subdued the man with physical force, but "luckily" didn't have to resort to deadly force or even any less-than-lethal tactics.

While officers were removing the man from the car, Patton interfered and threatened to "kill officers," leading to her arrest at the scene, the chief alleged.

Heritage Village neighbors tell police they've been concerned

Neighbors who gathered in the lobby of the police department before and after Miller's news conference said officers had been called to the area many times for problems with the couple.

The chief said investigators believe the couple's plot to kill officers "was in retribution to ongoing enforcement actions that were taken at the Ferraiolo home against both Mr. Ferraiolo and Ms. Patton."

One neighbor, George Dougherty, said he has complained to officials for 18 months because the couple had gotten violent and that on Wednesday he wrote an email to Mayor Jaclyn Veasy, telling her, "This will not end well."

After hearing of the arrests, he responded, "I hope it's over."

Ferraiolo also is charged with two counts of aggravated assault of a police officer, eluding, criminal mischief and injuring a police canine.

Patton is charged with terroristic threats and obstruction of justice.

Both were being held in Burlington County Jail pending a detention hearing.

"I hope the seriousness of these charges are weighed into the fact of whether detention is continued," Miller said.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Evesham police charge Marc Ferraiolo, Ruth Patton in plot to kill cops