DCNR: Contractor traps ambulance in state park construction zone to ‘teach’ speeding driver ‘a lesson’
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL FILE - A DCNR Park Ranger vehicle.
LOCUST VALLEY – A Bedford County man is facing charges after authorities say he locked an ambulance in a construction zone of a local state park to teach a speeding driver “a lesson.”
Dennis Marius Johnson, 70, of Rainsburg, is facing misdemeanor false imprisonment and reckless endangerment charges for the summertime incident.
Charges were filed Oct. 1 by State Park Officer Mary Lupacchini of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resoucres.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Magisterial District Judge Edward Tarantelli’s office, Johnson is employed by KLA Roofing and Construction, Everett, who was contracted to perform renovation work at the Locust Lake State Park Campground.
While that work is ongoing, a state park gate to the swimming area is closed and locked during the offseason. During the swimming season, the gate was to be closed and left unlocked to allow emergency services to access the area. A state park lock was removed entirely for this purpose.
On Tuesday, June 24, emergency services were called for a medical emergency at the park. Tamaqua EMS responded, followed by an ALS unit from Hazleton as the call was upgraded to a possible heart attack.
A park maintenance repairman who assists with Ryan Township EMS also responded to assist units in navigating the park and construction area. He was in a personal vehicle, DCNR said, following behind the ambulance.
Tamaqua EMS assisted the patient and loaded them for transport, planning to meet the Hazleton advanced life support unit at the park entrance and found the state park gate was now locked with an unknown lock.
The park combination didn’t work and there was no key.
DCNR alleges the lock was placed on the gate by Johnson who “was upset that people were speeding through the area and he wanted to confront them.”
Court documents allege that locking the gate delayed Tamaqua EMS by at least four minutes and forced the Hazleton ALS unit to meet Tamaqua EMS at the gate.
When initially asked about the incident by DCNR rangers, Johnson said a car passed by at a high rate of speed and nearly hit him. He said he “didn’t know it was a first responder at the time,” saying he would never have locked the gate if he had seen there was an ambulance.
After the vehicle passed, he said “we’re going to have a conversation” regarding the car and locked the gate. He came back to the gate to find the ambulance stuck behind it.
In a later interview, Johnson told rangers he locked the gate with the goal of “teaching him a lesson,” referring to the driver of the car. He adamantly denied seeing the ambulance, emergency lights, or hearing a siren.
Members of the Tamaqua EMS crew also said they did not recall seeing Johnson or his vehicle in the area.
DCNR asserted in court documents that Johnson “recklessly created a situation that could have put a person in danger of death or serious bodily injury.”
A preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 29.
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