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Road-rage incident, crash lead to charges

Lilly resident faces felony aggravated assault count

A road-rage incident that allegedly ended with an intentional crash has led to criminal charges in Cambria County.

Brian T. Dodson II, 30, of 812 Level Road, Lilly, faces a felony aggravated assault charge for a Sept. 15 incident along Route 22 in Cres­son Township.

Officers were called to respond to a crash in the westbound lane of Route 22 between the Summit and Route 53 exits, according to a criminal complaint filed early this month by Cresson Township police.

Officers were told two vehicles were involved in the crash, and one of the drivers had fled the scene.

Police said they arrived to find a red car atop a barrier on the side of the road.

“The vehicle was partially over the barrier with its rear wheels off the ground and the front of the car on the ground in the median,” police wrote in the complaint, describing the scene.

Near the crash site, officers also saw black skid marks on the road surface, “indicating that the vehicle has skidded before striking … the barrier.”

No driver was inside of the car, police said.

A second vehicle was discovered stopped near the Level Road overpass — about a tenth of a mile west of the crash site. The vehicle was damaged.

Police said they spoke to the driver of the second vehicle, who was uninjured. According to the complaint, the driver reported that he had been involved in a “road-rage incident.”

The driver told police he was traveling Route 22, when the red car’s driver — later identified as Dodson — attempted to merge his vehicle into the same lane of traffic.

Dodson allegedly became angry when the other driver did not slow to allow him to merge, according to the complaint.

The driver reported that Dodson then began driving dangerously and sticking his hand out of his window to display a middle finger, according to police.

The driver said he then sped to flee from Dodson, sometimes exceeding 80 mph.

Eventually, Dodson “de­liberately” crashed his car into the side of the other vehicle, causing the accident, police were told.

For weeks, the case against Dodson was listed as “inactive” in online court records.

However, he was recently arrested in Centre County and appeared before Magisterial District Judge Carmine Prestia Jr.

In addition to the felony aggravated assault charge, Dodson faces misdemeanor charges of simple assault, harassment, recklessly en­dangering another person and causing an accident, as well as lesser charges of disregarding a traffic lane, careless driving, reckless driving, failure to stop after a crash, failure to notify police and following too closely.

Dodson is to appear for a preliminary hearing at 1 p.m. Oct. 31 before Magis­terial District Judge John Prebish Jr.

According to online court documents, he remains in Cambria County Prison unable to post 10 percent of $50,000 bail.

Mirror Staff Writer Sean Sauro is at 946-7535.

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