A man punched a Reading policeman in the face shortly after he was blocked from entering a senior apartment complex in Glenside by staff members, investigators said.

Anthony Tapia, 34, no permanent address, was charged with aggravated and simple assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct as a result of the incidents Thursday after 11:30 a.m.

After arraignment before District Judge Brian K. Strand in Reading Central Court, he was committed to Berks County Prison in lieu of $75,000 to await a hearing.

According to the probable cause affidavit:

Police were initially dispatched to Oakshire Apartments, 350 Lackawanna St., for a report of a woman who activated a medical alarm, saying something about her son.

The first police officer to arrive was told that staff members had blocked Tapia at the entrance door. They told him he was not allowed on the premises because he does not live there or have permission to be there.

Tapia was still on location. The policeman began to talk to him when he ran off.

The officer found him a minute later at the 7-Eleven store around the corner. As soon as the officer exited his patrol car, Tapia punched him in the face.

The officer signaled for backup. Another officer arrived to find traffic stopped on Lackawanna Street. He drove around the vehicles and found the officer struggling on the ground with the suspect in the store parking lot.

He assisted the officer in handcuffing Tapia.

Court records show Tapia pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and possessing a controlled substance in February 2023 and was sentenced by Berks County Judge Patrick T. Barrett to serve 131 days to 23 months in the county jail.