A motorist has been cited for instigating a crash that caused a feed truck to collide with the gymnasium of a Pennsylvania church, leaving three people injured.
The crash happened on November 27 around 10 a.m. in East Earl Township in Lancaster County.
A feed truck from Gehman Feed Mill crashed into the gym at Bethany Grace Fellowship after collision at Rt 625 & Union Grove Rd East Earl Twp. Three people injured. @LancasterOnline pic.twitter.com/Fnzvp83W9d
— Blaine Shahan (@BlaineShahanLNP) November 27, 2017
SUV Strikes Feed Truck In Intersection
Police say that 55 year old Paul M. Martin was driving a feed truck southbound on Reading Road at Route 625 when an SUV driven by 67 year old Russel Dowdy entered the intersection. The SUV struck the driver’s side of the feed truck and sent it crashing off the road, through a grassy area, and though the wall of Bethany Grace Fellowship Church.
The feed truck crashed through the wall into a gymnasium where children had been playing only 15 minutes before.
Witness Grace Weaver told ABC 27, “The truck was still going and he managed to miss the pole, the sign, and then he hit the church.”
Three Hurt In Crash, No Church Members Injured
Martin, Dowdy, and a passenger inside the SUV were all taken to the hospital for the treatment of non life threatening injuries. No one inside the church was injured.
Church pastor Adam Nagle noted that the crash could have been much worse: “If anyone had been in there, with the spray from the concrete block, I’m afraid we’d have quite a tragic outcome. When looking at the truck’s cab, we marvel that he came out alive.”
Dowdy will be cited for failure of duties at a stop sign and a yield sign.
Bethany Grace Fellowship posted on Facebook wishing both Martin and the SUV occupants a speedy recovery: “Praise God no one was hurt inside the building! Please pray for the truck driver and couple in the car. There appeared to be only minor injuries.”