A former Delaware County fencing company employee faces charges after he allegedly threatened and yelled racial slurs at a Black woman while his forklift was blocking traffic.
The incident occurred on Nov. 21, 2024, around 9:10 a.m. along the 600 block of Hook Road in Folcroft, Pennsylvania, investigators said.
John Romano, a 46-year-old Delaware County resident who worked for the fencing company J & P Fencing, was loading trees onto his forklift while blocking traffic on the road, according to the criminal complaint. At the same time, a woman was driving her blue Chevy Camaro in the area. The woman said she then got caught in a line of traffic that Romano was causing.
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The woman told investigators she became impatient and beeped when she saw Romano’s forklift in the way. Romano then told the woman, “Who the f*** are you beeping at? Shut up b****,” according to the criminal complaint.
The woman – who is Black – said she then tried to drive her car around the forklift. Romano – who is white – then jumped out of the forklift and called her a “monkey” while saying he would find out where she lived and where she was from, investigators said.
Romano also allegedly told the woman, “You know what n*****, go get a f****** banana. I am not dealing with you today, plain and simple.” The woman said Romano took a picture of her license plate to find out where she lived and threatened to make a call to get her cited and her vehicle towed. She also said Romano threatened to physically attack her while repeatedly calling her a “porch monkey." He also allegedly claimed he didn’t care if she called police because he was “protected.”
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The woman called police who responded to the incident. While being recorded by police body camera video, Romano admitted to calling the woman the N word, investigators said. He then allegedly told one of the officers, “I’ll tell ya what I said, I’ll say it again, it’s my belief, they’re all animals. I’m tired of dealing with them.” When the officer told Romano about the possible repercussions he could face, Romano allegedly asked, “So I can’t call a n***** a n*****?”
Police said Romano then claimed the woman had threatened to kill him. He then retracted his previous statement about him calling her a racial slur, according to investigators.
“I didn’t call her a n*****,” Romano then told the officer, according to the criminal complaint. “I said, ‘Go get a banana, you monkey.’ That’s what I said. So, how’s that racist? She is a wild animal.”
Romano was arrested and charged with ethnic intimidation, terroristic threats, harassment, disorderly conduct and obstructing highways.
During a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, State Senator Anthony H. Williams (D – 8th District), who represents parts of Philadelphia and Delaware counties, joined the Delaware County Black Caucus and other community leaders in calling for the cancellation of any government contracts with J & P Fencing.
While Sen. Williams claims Romano owns the company, a representative for J & P Fencing told NBC10 Romano sold the business years ago and hasn’t worked there in seven months. A lawyer for the company also told NBC10 they only hired Romano to do work for them for that day in November and that he wasn’t the owner.
A Linkedin page describes Romano as the owner of J & P fencing, however. The company website also listed Romano as the manager though his name was later removed. Romano also responded to Better Business Bureau complaints for the company as recently as 2023.
Romano is due in court in February. Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said he is not releasing the body camera footage of Romano’s alleged comments.
“That is evidence of a crime. It’s not a prop for a press conference,” Stollsteimer said. “I’m horrified. That’s why we brought criminal charges against him. But my number one duty, unlike a politician who can stand at a press conference and say whatever they want, I actually have a responsibility to make sure that something happens. Something in this case positive happens for the community. And that means he is held accountable.”
