Probation for driver who fired gun during caravan
A Licking County man who fired a gun from his pickup truck at a semi driver while leading a “rolling rally” of Donald Trump supporters on the Northwest Outerbelt nearly a year ago has been placed on probation.
Todd Crawford, 59, of Homer, Ohio, pleaded guilty on Sept. 7 to felony counts of attempted felonious assault and discharging a firearm in a prohibited area.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Stephen L. Mcintosh conducted the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, placing Crawford on probation for three years. The judge also ordered that he spend the upcoming Christmas holiday, Dec. 23-27, in the Franklin County jail.
If Crawford violates probation, the judge could send him to prison for two years.
In a sentencing memo filed last week, Crawford’s attorney Jon Saia, argued for probation. Saia contends in the filing that his client was provoked during the road rally by the semi driver, who raised a middle finger at Crawford and steered his rig into Crawford’s truck, then continued to swerve his rig into Crawford’s lane of travel, endangering him and his sister, who was a passenger in the pickup.
Crawford reacted by firing a single shot from a .45-caliber handgun at the semi, with the bullet passing through the passenger-side window and embedding in the roof of the cab just above the driver.
The incident occurred on northbound I-270 south of Tuttle Crossing Boulevard at about 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 3.
Crawford was driving a black pickup as the lead vehicle in a caravan of Trump supporters. The rally organizer asked Crawford to leave the caravan because his truck was large and outfitted with two big Trump flags, according to Saia’s filing.
Saia wrote that the driver of the commercial semi-rig drove alongside the caravan, making an obscene gesture and steering toward participants’ vehicles in a threatening manner.
Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Dan Lenert said that he agreed as part of the plea agreement not to recommend a sentence, instead deferring to the judge’s discretion.
The victim, who lives in Hamilton, Ohio, did not attend the hearing. Lenert told the judge that the victim, like the defendant, is a former Marine and did not want to see a fellow Marine go to prison. jfutty@dispatch.com @johnfutty