By Leila Merrill
JANE LEW, W.Va. — A West Virginia man was charged after allegedly hitting a firefighter with his truck, WTRF reported.
A firefighter working a structure and brush fire on Thursday in Harrison County near the Lewis County line was trying to close W. Va. Rt. 19. The driver, John Horner, “attempted to come through the road block,” said deputies with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department.
The deputies were dispatched to a reported altercation involving the first responder on Good Hope Pike in Jane Lew, according to a criminal complaint.
https://www.facebook.com/JaneLewFireDepartment/posts/255630219938952
The firefighter had stopped the vehicle when Horner “became confrontational.” The firefighter was photographing the license plate for the sake of documentation when the man “put his truck in reverse and struck [the firefighter] with the rear driver’s side bumper, knocking him to the ground,” deputies said. The complaint also said the victim got up and punched Horner in the face before deputies put Horner into custody.
Horner has been charged with “attacking a firefighter with a deadly weapon,” according to reports, and is being held in jail.
There were no injuries from the fire itself, according to Harrison County 911, WBOY reported.