Rusk VFD Chief Agrees to Pre-Trial Diversion Program, Charges Dismissed
Posted/updated on: July 4, 2017 at 5:50 pmRUSK – Court documents show Rusk Volunteer Fire Chief Donald Lankford has entered into a pre-trial diversion program and charges against him have been dismissed. KETK reports as part of the agreement, Lankford must undergo six months of probation, 20 hours of community service (may self-report), and pay a $500 fee. Lankford, 44, applied to the program while facing two counts of deadly conduct via the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. The charges stem from an incident in December 2015 when he chased after two teenagers, who claimed the fire chief tried to run them off the road twice. He allegedly followed them all the way to a neighboring county.
In the pre-trial diversion agreement, Lankford confessed and signed a statement admitting he “did recklessly engage in conduct that could have placed Roy Wayne Formean III and Zachary Banks in imminent danger of serious bodily injury by driving in a manner that caused them to run off of the road.” Prior to the vehicle pursuit, the teenagers said they threw a firecracker out their SUV window to near a fireworks stand Lankford owned. Video from a local gas station showed Lankford catch up with the boys near Highway 69 and Highway 84. In the video, Lankford pulled his car in front of the SUV and approached it.
Wayne Foreman, the teenager driving the intercepted vehicle, said Lankford opened the door to his SUV. “He grabs my shoulder, and he’s like get out,” said Foreman. “He tugs at me and tries to pull at me, but I had my seat belt on…and I got scared and I pulled it into first and took off.” According to a police report, Lankford told cops he never got out of his car. The boys said Lankford sped after them following the altercation.
In August 2016, a Cherokee County jury handed up a not guilty verdict on an assault charge. On June 16, 2017, in conjunction with the pre-trial diversion, Prosecutor Pro Tem Stephanie Stephens, a special prosecutor from Nacogdoches County, requested a motion to dismiss. The motion was then accepted by a county court at law judge.