LANCASTER, Pa. — A Lancaster County man will serve up to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to assaulting two EMTs and disarming a Lancaster Police officer in an incident in the city in 2022.
Jeremic Medina-Dorta, 29, of Columbia, pleaded guilty in October 2023 to four counts of aggravated assault, six counts of recklessly endangering another person, two counts of criminal mischief and one count of disarming a law enforcement officer. He was sentenced last week to a prison term of 4 to 14 years by Lancaster County Judge Merrill Spahn, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office.
According to prosecutors, Medina-Dorta told a bystander he had hurt his foot and was under the influence of the psychedelic drug LSD at the start of the incident that led to his arrest on Feb. 12, 2022.
The incident occurred on the 200 block of North Arch Street, prosecutors said.
After the bystander contacted authorities, police and EMT personnel responded to the scene at about 6:11 p.m.
The EMS crew located Medina-Dorta, and escorted him to the rear of the ambulance. As the medics attempted to give him treatment, Medina-Dorta became agitated and began kicking and flailing. The EMS crew discovered Medina-Dorta had a knife during attempts to restrain him, prosecutors said.
One member of the crew suffered a laceration to their abdomen and another had bruising from being kicked and punched. The police officer eventually removed the knife from Medina-Dorta’s possession and secured him with handcuffs to be transported to Lancaster General Hospital for evaluation, according to prosecutors.
The EMS crew all reported hearing a pop consistent with a gunshot during the struggle. The investigation revealed Medina-Dorta had grabbed the officer’s firearm while it was holstered during the struggle and pulled the trigger, causing it to fire.
Neither the EMS team nor Medina-Dorta were struck with a bullet.
First Deputy District Attorney Cody Wade prosecuted the case. Lancaster City Bureau of Police Detective Steve Owens filed charges.
