Cops: 63-Year-Old Man Left Screws, Nails, Bolts at Trump Supporters Homes in Lower Makefield Township

A 63-year-old Lower Makefield man stands accused of 17 harassment and disorderly conduct misdemeanor counts with 11 summary offenses for allegedly placing screws, nails, and bolts at the homes and workplace of three victims who publicly support(ed) then candidate, now President Donald J. Trump.

The three incidents took place, according to police, between October 30 and November 1, days before voters went to the polls.

Incident #1:

On October 31, 2024, the victim reported to Lower Makefield Police that an unknown person had dropped 12 screws under and around her vehicle that was parked at McCaffrey’s Supermarket, located at 635 Heacock Road, Yardley.  The screws were dropped under and around the victim’s vehicle sometime between 7 a.m. and 1:59 p.m., police said.

Police contacted McCaffrey’s and surveillance cameras were reviewed that covered the victim’s car, but due to the location where the victim had parked the vehicle, surveillance footage was too pixelated to make out persons or makes/models of vehicles near the victim’s car. Police then coordinated with McCaffrey’s to have the victim park closer to the storefront so if the suspect returned to the scene then the store surveillance cameras would capture future offenses. Officers collected the screws at the scene and photographed them for documentation and future investigative purposes, the criminal complaint says.

In-house records revealed that the victim also had screws dropped under and around her vehicle at a parking space in the McCaffrey’s lot on July 19, 2024 sometime prior to arriving for work around 8:10 a.m.

Incident # 2:

On October 30, 2024 (1 day prior to victim’s #1 report) at 7:44 a.m. the Lower Makefield Police received a report of nails and screws strewn about the base of the victim’s driveway, located on the 1300 block of Newtown-Yardley Road in Lower Makefield. The responding officer spoke with the victim who advised that his landscaper showed up for work on his property around 6:40 a.m. and recovered 26 nails, 16 screws, one large bolt piece and four miscellaneous screws (all collected for evidence, future investigation & documentation) that appeared to be thrown from a passing vehicle since the driveway to the residence is positioned between Yardley-Langhorne Road and the Newtown Bypass Route 332.  Police spoke to the victim on October 30, 2024, around 12:40 p.m. and photographed the exterior of his property which displayed a large inflatable Donald Trump figure along with several large Trump-Vance signs, police said.

The homeowner/victim also advised police he had received a harassing letter that was critical of him supporting the then presidential candidate, Trump, and that he felt his property was being targeted for the above noted display supporting the then presidential candidate and current President Trump.

On February 17, 2025, at 12:33 p.m. the homeowner/victim reported his property was targeted again as 11 nails were scattered at the base of his driveway. The 11 nails were collected as evidence by police, court records show.

Police spoke with both victims, and at the time they summarized that this was occurring due to them supporting then presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump, officers wrote in court records.

Incident # 3:

On November 1, 2024, the victim, reported to Lower Makefield Township Police that nails were found at base of his driveway which is located at 1400 block of Clinton Drive, Yardley section of the township sometime within the last week and the victim advised that he had (has) Trump signs visible on his property. The victim reported that his back right tire needed to be replaced after a nail punctured the tire of his Jeep Wrangler with an estimated damage/loss of $608.  Police collected the five screws recovered during this incident and it appears that they are consistent with the screws recovered at the two other locations, police wrote in court papers.

SUSPECT IDENTIFICATION:

On February 13, 2025, around 3:15 p.m., police received a phone call from a McCaffrey’s employee who believed she had identified the suspect throwing nails under or around victim #1’s  vehicle and that new nails were located around her vehicle which was now parked closer to the McCaffrey’s store camera/surveillance system. On this occasion, police did recover two nails around the victim’s vehicle.

The employee supplied police with surveillance video and still photographs of a white male suspect walking by the victim’s vehicle and throwing nails at the rear driver’s side tire area that was time-stamped Feb 13 2025 Thursday 06:56 a.m. The suspect subsequently entered McCaffrey’s and made a purchase which was supplied to police in the amount of $25.45 that was registered to a store card with the customer name of Rick Dalberg. The transaction journal invoice number also revealed that the suspect used a MasterCard account registered to Alaric Dalberg which the investigation revealed was the suspect’s full legal name.

The following day a McCaffrey’s employee also turned over photo cameras’ captured pictures of the suspect’s vehicle and license plate which is positively identified as registered to Alaric Dalberg, the probable cause alleges.

Along with the still photograph of the suspect vehicle, the McCaffrey’s employee turned over additional surveillance footage (time stamped: Feb-14-2025 6:58 a.m.) of the white male suspect again throwing nails at victim’s # 1 vehicle along with another McCaffrey’s Transaction Journal Receipt which was again registered to the frequent shopper card with the customer name of Rick Dalberg.

The employee turned over surveillance videos of the same suspect throwing nails at or under victim #1’s vehicle on the following additional dates and times along with corresponding transaction journal receipts for purchases under the customer name of Rick Dalberg.

1. 2-11-2025 at 06:59 – 31 nails thrown at victim’s parked vehicle

2. 1-29-2025 at 06:56 – 52 nails thrown at victim’s parking space

3. 1-27-2025 at 06:58 – 11 nails thrown at victim’s parking space

File Image Lower Makefield Twp Police SUV
Credit: Joanne Ames, Lower Bucks Source

Police reviewed all the surveillance videos and surveillance still photographs of both the suspect and the suspect’s vehicle. In this case Alaric Dalberg aka Rick Dalberg’s face is completely visible and that he (Dalberg) is not wearing any form of face covering nor a hat to conceal his identity while throwing nails near the victim #1’s vehicle or parking space. Dalberg’s assigned photo was retrieved during this investigation and was compared to the surveillance videos and stills turned over to police indicating Dalberg is readily identifiable as the suspect committing the detailed offenses, said police in court records.

On February 19, 2025,  LMT officers went  to a Breece Drive address to speak with Dalberg (AKA “Rick” Dalberg) who was developed as a suspect in this investigation as a result of the surveillance footage recovered from McCaffrey’s. Officers knocked at the front door and Dalberg answered the door and asked them to have a seat in the living room. Police advised Dalberg the reason for the visit and at first he just listened and when he was asked if he shops at McCaffrey’s, he said, “all the time. I wasn’t there today but yeah all the time.” Dalberg also confirmed that he has a McCaffrey’s store card that he uses when he goes to the store and makes grocery purchases. He was asked if he knew anything about throwing nails at parked cars in the parking lot of the McCaffrey’s and he originally denied knowing anything about the matter until he was shown the surveillance videos for 1/27/2025, 1/29/2025, 2/11/2025, 2/13/2025 & 2/14/2025 that was turned over by McCaffrey’s to investigators.

Dalberg watched each surveillance video and still photograph provided by McCaffrey’s and he positively identified himself in all the videos/stills including videos and stills of his vehicle registered to him and parked in his driveway at the time of this interview. Dalberg admitted the person in noted McCaffrey’s surveillance videos was him and that he did in fact either throw nails at or under the victim’s vehicle in an attempt to flatten the tires or cause damage to the vehicle. Dalberg also admitted that he would throw nails at the victim’s parking spot when it was empty hoping to cause damage to her vehicle when she eventually would park there for work. When Dalberg was asked why he would throw nails in an empty parking space, he stated, “come on she’s got to park there eventually it’s not hard to see why.”

Dalberg initially would not fully disclose the motive for his alleged crimes, but eventually he told police it was because she (victim #1) was a “Trumper” referring to her supporting President Trump. Dalberg advised the police that he strongly disliked Trump and also stated or posed the question, “how could you support him?” Dalberg advised law enforcement that he knew the victim was a Trumper because when he shopped at the McCaffrey’s Market he overheard the victim in conversation with co-workers and other customers making statements that supported Trump’s presidential campaign.

It should also be noted that Dalberg recalled speaking with the “flower lady” referring to victim #1 about a recent trip she took to Memphis. He identified victim # 1 by a state issued photo. Dalberg was also shown crime scene pictures from the 12 screws dropped under and around victim # 1’s on October 31, 2024 to which he replied, “well I noticed her car had been moved recently, let’s just go with yea that was me.”

Investigators asked Dalberg to clarify if he was the suspect involved in the 10/31/2024 incident where the victim located nails under and around  the vehicle and he said, “yes.”

During the course of the interview Dalberg was shown crime scene photographs of victim #2’s  home/driveway, Dalberg allegedly confessed to throwing nails on the driveway from his moving vehicle while enroute to the UPS store In Newtown on Monday, February 17, 2025. Dalberg also stated he was familiar with the property and recognized it.

Dalberg told was asked about his motive and how he would perpetrate the above noted alleged offenses. He said  on occasion that he would look for “crimes of opportunity” in that when he would drive by a house with Trump signs during the last election cycle and he would throw nails from his moving vehicle and Dalberg advised that he stored the nails loose in the cup holder of his vehicle for this purpose. Dalberg indicated he had nails stowed in the cup holder of his vehicle at the present time that he was being interviewed by police. He stated his actions “were dumb and stupid” and apologized, stating he would not engage in this behavior any longer. Investigators then asked Dalberg for a written statement to which he agreed and provided the following written statement:

“Over several months, I have thrown nails from my vehicle towards several homes with Trump signs and a white Mercedes in the McCaffrey’s Lot, which is owned by the flower lady at the store.”

Investigators then read Dalberg the LMTPD Search & Seizure Consent Form to search and obtain the nails in the center cup holder area of his vehicle which he had indicated were there during the interview. Police advised Dalberg had the right to refuse the search of his vehicle before he was read the form. Police then read him the form verbatim in the presence of a detective. Dalberg agreed to allow us to recover the nails from his vehicle and permitted the detective to photograph the 72 nails and one screw that was present in the center cup holder console area of his vehicle. The nails recovered by police inside Dalberg’s vehicle on February 19, 2025 matched the nails recovered by officers on, near and under victim #1’s vehicle on February 13th and February 14th of 2025, the criminal complaint alleges.

Police noted that seven of the nails recovered from victim # 2’s driveway in the connection with the February 17, 2025, incident at 1300 block Newtown-Yardley Road, were an exact match of the nails recovered in Dalberg’s vehicle on February 19, 2025, at his residence in his driveway.

The police department also received reports of screws located in the driveway of 1300 block of  Oxford Valley Road, Yardley (victim # 4) where $20 was spent patching a tire on October 28, 2024 and on November 1, 2024 (victim # 5)  in the driveway  on the 1500 block of Revere Road.

In both cases these screws were also collected as evidence, police said.

Dalberg was charged by mail summons with a court date scheduled for April 29 at Morrisville District Court at 9 a.m. He is represented by Thomas F. Burke, Esq., according to online court records. Burke did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Lower Bucks Source on Tuesday afternoon.