Police find tow truck driver 'dazed and unable to speak' after violent punch caught on video

Shelly Stallsmith, York Daily Record
·1 min read

Josiah Dorwart was sitting against the tire of his tow truck when police arrived shortly after 1 p.m. Feb. 22, according to court documents.

York City Police Department officers who responded to the report of an assault in the 100 block of South Penn Street said Dorwart was "dazed and unable to speak."

A video taken by a transit bus sitting behind Dorwart's tow truck shows the incident, but the only sound comes from inside the bus.

'It’s a tragic incident:' York woman headed toward trial in deadly stabbing of cousin

Dropping: The York County Prison population dropped 40% from 2011 to 2021. Here's how that happened.

Court documents show that Dorwart parked his truck in the north lane of South Penn Street. A red Nissan Versa approached from the other direction. Dorwart told the car's driver, later identified as Eliezer Graciani-Alicea, that he had to turn around so the bus could get through.

The video shows Graciani-Alicea getting out of his car and following Dorwart to the back of the tow truck. Dorwart said he turned back toward the truck to continue working when he was "struck in the right side of the face by the right fist" of Graciani-Alecia.

Police used tips from the community to help identify the man who sucker punched a tow truck driver in York on Feb. 22, 2022.
Police used tips from the community to help identify the man who sucker punched a tow truck driver in York on Feb. 22, 2022.

Dorwart said he was immediately knocked unconscious by the punch.

The video showed Dorwart violently hitting his chin area on the lip of his flatbed before Graciani-Alicea pushed him to the road.

Dorwart suffered numerous injuries, including a concussion and skull fracture, according to court documents.

York City Police used tips from the community to identify Graciani-Alicea. He was charged with felony assault with the attempt to cause serious bodily injury and was released on $50,000 bail.

Graciani-Alicea is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Friday.

Shelly Stallsmith is a trends reporter for the York Daily Record. She can be reached at mstallsmith@ydr.com or followed on Twitter at @ShelStallsmith.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: York sucker punch left tow truck driver 'dazed and unable to speak'