A 33-year-old Lancaster County man was sentenced to serve up to two years less a day in county prison, followed by five years of probation, after choking an EMS captain who had been dispatched to help him. Rashaun Marquis Sligh pleaded guilty in July to aggravated assault and several related charges stemming from the November 2025 attack, which unfolded after first responders found him unconscious at a Lancaster intersection.
Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker handed down the sentence on Sunday, ordering Sligh to serve one year less a day to two years less a day in county prison followed by five years of probation, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office. As PennLive reports, Sligh pleaded guilty on July 31 to aggravated assault, resisting arrest, evading arrest on foot, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
A 911 Call for Help Turns Violent
The incident began around 7 a.m. on November 6, 2025, when Lancaster police dispatched an EMS captain to South Water and West Farnum streets after Sligh was found unconscious, per police. While the captain was providing medical treatment, Sligh grabbed him by the throat, according to the same police account. A bystander helped free the captain from the chokehold before Sligh fled the scene.
Court documents show Sligh had no fixed address at the time of his arrest. A police officer took him to the ground on the first block of South Prince Street after he ignored officers' commands, and two officers used a stun gun on him as he resisted arrest, according to court documents cited by police. He was found carrying several glass crack cocaine pipes and a marijuana grinder.
Erratic Behavior and a Six-Figure Bail
Following his arrest, Sligh made excited, nonsensical statements and appeared disoriented and under the influence of a controlled substance, the district attorney's office notes. He was held at Lancaster County Prison after failing to post $100,000 bail. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman based on charges filed by Lancaster City Bureau of Police Officer Jason Windlebleck, per court records. Authorities said Sligh was ultimately sentenced after pleading guilty earlier this summer, and he also pleaded guilty to public drunkenness.
Why Choking an EMS Worker Is a Felony in Pennsylvania
Under Pennsylvania's crimes code, causing or attempting to cause bodily injury to emergency medical services personnel performing their official duties automatically elevates the offense from simple assault to aggravated assault, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. That statute reflects the elevated legal protections given to responders who are frequently placed in harm's way while treating people in crisis.
A Pattern of Violence Against Local Crews
The attack on the EMS captain is not an isolated case in Lancaster. In February 2022, a Lancaster EMS responder was stabbed in the city while responding to a similarly routine report of a person down, according to EMS1. Nationally, systematic research on prehospital workplace safety published in peer-reviewed medical literature indicates that between 57% and 93% of EMS responders experience physical or verbal violence at least once during their careers, per a study hosted on PubMed Central. A separate analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational injury data found that 77% of violence-related injuries suffered by EMS clinicians were committed by the very patients they were evaluating or treating.
Straining an Already Stretched Agency
Lancaster EMS operates 12 stations with more than 200 employees, serving as the county's only nationally accredited ambulance service across 18 municipalities and more than 275,000 residents. The agency responded to 57,505 service calls in 2025, reflecting a countywide surge in emergency and non-emergency call demand of over 50% since 2020, according to the agency's own advocacy materials. Pennsylvania state policy does not require municipalities to fund EMS as an essential public service, leaving Lancaster EMS reliant on voluntary municipal contributions that covered only 57.5% of requested support last year.
Sligh's sentencing closes out a case that began with a routine welfare check and ended with felony convictions against the very man first responders had been sent to save. The outcome underscores the risks Lancaster's emergency crews face on calls that can turn violent in an instant, even when they are simply trying to help.
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