LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A truck driver was convicted this week of attempting to run over a fire police lieutenant at a fire scene in Lancaster County last year.
Craig Robert Godfrey was found guilty on Tuesday of aggravated assault by physical menace and recklessly endangering another person after a two-day trial, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said.
The charges arose out of an incident that occurred on the morning of June 3, 2023, at the intersection of Conestoga Creek Road and South Red School Road in Caernarvon Township, prosecutors said.
The evidence showed that Godfrey, who was driving an 18-wheel tractor-trailer truck, threatened and attempted to run over Caernarvon Township Fire Police Lieutenant Timothy Cunningham, who was trying to direct Godfrey's truck away from the scene of a barn fire on South Red School Road.
Godfrey insisted on driving his truck through the closed portion of the roadway, prosecutors said. He repeatedly lurched his truck toward Cunningham, who had to repeatedly back away from the truck’s advance, according to testimony.
Godfrey ultimately drove at Cunningham, who had to physically push himself away from the truck to avoid being run over, prosecutors said.
A portion of the incident was captured on Godfrey’s dashboard camera, according to prosecutors.
First Assistant District Attorney Travis S. Anderson presented the case to the jury.
“Fire police officers and other volunteer first-responders selflessly put themselves at great risk to protect the safety of others," Anderson said. "The jury’s verdict holds the defendant accountable for his unacceptably dangerous conduct.”
The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for approximately a half hour before rendering its verdict.
The trial proceeded in front of Judge Dennis E. Reinaker, who will impose sentence following the completion of a presentence investigation.
