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Firefighter Hit By Friend Allegedly Driving Drunk

STANDING STONE TOWNSHIP – Volunteer firefighter Clint Houghtaling was on his way home from the grocery store Saturday when he saw some downed power lines on Rum...

STANDING STONE TOWNSHIP – Volunteer firefighter Clint Houghtaling was on his way home from the grocery store Saturday when he saw some downed power lines on Rummerfield Creek Road near Wyalusing. He stopped to help, and even called to tell his mother he would be a little longer than expected.

"Clint had gone to the grocery store and he was on his way back home and came and found the wires in the road so he pulled over,” said mother Janice Houghtaling.

Clint Houghtaling’s mother Janice tells us it wasn't too long after that call she heard a terrifying call come across the scanner in her living room Saturday: a pedestrian hit on Rummerfield Creek Road, the same spot her son had just stopped.

State police say Travis Taylor, 19, of Wyalusing was driving drunk, hit the volunteer fireman on the side of the road, and sent him flying about 50 feet.

"I heard over the scanner they said our phone number was the number to call and right then and there I just started screaming and shaking because I really knew it was him," said Houghtaling.

Clint Houghtaling was flown to the hospital with injuries to his head and legs. His mom says he is slowly recovering and improving.

What makes the accident that happened near Wyalusing even more difficult for the volunteer firefighter's family is that the man who hit him is actually a close friend.

"It's been really hard, I'm very, very, very upset, very angry, at the boy and I want him to get everything he deserves to get,” said Houghtaling.

According to court papers, Taylor had an open case of beer in his pickup truck and tried to hide it. Troopers found it and say the cans left were still cold.

Janice Houghtaling says even after this incident and a long road to recovery, “I'm not ever going to say 'Clint don't do this anymore' and my husband, it's always going to be really closer to my fears than before."

Travis Taylor is locked up in Bradford County. He is scheduled to be back in court later this month facing charges numerous charges including driving under the influence, underage drinking and aggravated assault.

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