WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- The son of Allentown's police chief is on trial for allegedly pointing a gun at two undercover police officers.
It was last August when 23-year-old Christopher Fitzgerald was giving his girlfriend a ride to her job at the Lehigh Valley Mall with their one-year-old son in the backseat. That ride ended in a dramatic scene on the mall parking lot, which was captured on cell phone video.
It all started when Fitzgerald was traveling down MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township.
Fitzgerald reportedly started brake-checking a vehicle he believed was tailgating him.
The two men inside that other unmarked vehicle were two Lehigh County undercover detectives.
Those officers say that after Fitzgerald brake-checked them, he allegedly pulled over while still in a traffic lane, opened the door, and allegedly pointed a gun at the officers who quickly started backing up their vehicle.
As Fitzgerald then drove away, the plain clothes officers called for backup while following Fitzgerald from a distance.
Local police then made the arrest with Fitzgerald's girlfriend and baby still inside the car.
But Fitzgerald's defense attorney paints a different picture.
He says his client feared for his life, primarily because Fitzgerald, at the time, was a Lehigh County corrections officer and his dad, Joel Fitzgerald, is the Allentown chief of police.
Fitzgerald's lawyers say the two men he says were tailgating him could've been anyone with a beef against his family.
In addition, Fitzgerald did have a permit for the gun.
He was fired from his job as a corrections officer after the allegations were made.
The charges against him include simple assault and reckless endangerment.
No one was injured in the incident.