Being a paramedic can be a dangerous job.
It certainly was for Zachary Myers on Thanksgiving Eve of 2015. That was the night a Harrisburg woman
with a kitchen knife.
His attacker, 28-year-old Juanee Crawford, was charged by city police with attempted murder for the assault.
On Monday, however, Myers decided to give her a break. Without hesitation, he told Dauphin County Judge William T. Tully that he agreed with a plea agreement that will reduce the charge to aggravated assault and guarantee Crawford a 1 1/2- to 3-year prison term.
That agreement, struck just before a jury was to be selected for Crawford's trial, resolved two cases.
In return for her aggravated assault plea, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Rozman agreed to withdraw a separate case where
in the parking lot of a department store in Lower Paxton Township in July 2016.
Harrisburg police said Myers' frightening encounter with Crawford occurred around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 25, 2015 when the paramedic responded to a call for a domestic violence-related injury in the Hall Manor public housing complex.
Crawford confronted Myers and "pulled out a knife and stabbed in the chest with it," Rozman said. Fortunately, the prosecutor added, Myers was wearing a bullet-proof vest that prevented the knife from harming him.
Instead, Myers told Tully, the knife simply slid along his torso.
Tully told defense attorney George Matangos he needed some convincing before allowing Crawford to plead down to aggravated assault.
"Juanee has gone through some difficult times," Matangos said, adding that his client had a severe alcohol abuse problem at the time of the assault. "Ninety-nine percent of what happened that night was related to a day-long drinking event with the neighbors."
He said Crawford, a single mother, has only a spotty recollection of what happened during the encounter with Myers. She had the kitchen knife in her hand because she was helping her family prepare Thanksgiving dinner, Matangos said.
Crawford now has a job and her life is "stabilized," he said. "For many months she has been doing the right thing."
When Tully asked Myers to give his opinion on the plea deal, the paramedic said it did appear that Crawford was under the influence of something when she slashed at him.
The judge asked Myers if he had any qualms about the agreement. "No, your honor," he replied.
Tully is to sentence Crawford in August.