Cops: Delco men used ratchet, table leg and birdcage to assault police

In two separate incidents this week, Ridley Park cops were assaulted with unusual items, including a table leg and a birdcage, police said.

In the first case, when Ridley Park police were able to grab a ratchet away from a teenager trying to attack them with it on Tuesday night, the teen broke off a leg from an end table and used that to hit a cop, police said.

Cops responded to 19-year-old Jacob Schreffler's house on Partridge Avenue around 10:51 p.m. for a domestic dispute and found Schreffler allegedly armed with the ratchet. When a police supervisor was able to grab the ratchet away, Schreffler broke off a table leg and used it to hit two cops while yelling "I'm going to kill you pigs," according to police.

He was charged with assault and related offenses and remains at the Delaware County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Also at the Delaware County Prison on assault charges is Ken Ritchie, 55, who is accused of using his bird cage and his bird to assault police.

Around 3 p.m. Thursday, police were called to the Ridley Park Plaza Apartments on Chester Pike because Ritchie had let his cockatoo fly around in the hallway, police said.

Police told Ritchie to get the bird in his apartment, but instead, Ritchie put the bird in the cage and began swinging the cage at an officer, police said. In one final act of defiance, Ritchie threw the cage with the bird inside and then charged at a cop, according to police.

He has been charged with assault, cruelty to animals and resisting arrest. He remains in prison on $10,000 bail.