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Driver faces felony charge after incident

Dakota J. Hinchberger

SLIPPERY ROCK — It sounded like an ordinary call for paramedic Shawn Johnson. It turned into anything but ordinary.

While responding to treat a man in a still running car Saturday morning at the Slippery Rock Plaza parking lot, Johnson found himself being dragged as the man tried to drive away.

The 46-year-old paramedic with Slippery Rock EMS managed to stop the car and spare anyone — except himself — of injury.

State police arrested the driver, Dakota J. Hinchberger, 25, of Muddy Creek Township, on felony assault and other charges.

“I was mission focused,” Johnson said in an interview. “It's a busy parking lot. I was 100 percent committed to stopping the vehicle, for everyone's safety.”

He was dragged 7 to 10 feet, police said, before he accomplished his mission. He got the car stopped and took the keys.

A full story appears in the Butler Eagle.

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