Truck driver found guilty
A Penn Township man was found guilty of several charges and not guilty of one, following a one-day trial in Butler County court on Tuesday, after being charged with recklessly endangering 50 to 75 people during a church picnic in July 2016.
Shawn E. McDonell, 38, was convicted of four misdemeanor counts, including defiant trespass, disorderly conduct and two counts of recklessly endangering another person, but not guilty of a misdemeanor count of simple assault. Following the jury's verdict, Judge William Shaffer also found McDonell guilty of summary harassment in the incident.
McDonell remains on house arrest with electronic monitoring on an unrelated case, and Shaffer made that a condition of this case pending sentencing, which was set for Dec. 21. He was also ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation within 30 days.
McDonell took the stand to refute the prosecution's assertion that he intentionally drove his truck through the New Life Christian Ministries Church parking lot, down a hill and into a field toward parishioners.
A full report appears in Wednesday's Butler Eagle.
