Gun-toting grandma's York County criminal case dropped
Liz Evans Scolforo
Criminal charges have been dropped for a Felton-area grandmother who had been accused by police of pointing a shotgun at her juvenile grandson after firing it into the air.
And on Tuesday, a York County judge ordered prosecutors to return Lorie Rae Godfrey's shotgun, which police had seized as evidence, according to court records.
Godfrey, 61, of North Hopewell Township, had been charged with child endangerment and simple assault, but at her June 17 preliminary hearing a plea agreement was negotiated whereby criminal charges would be dropped and she instead would face a single count of summary harassment, court records state.
Godfrey pleaded guilty that day to the summary citation of harassment and was ordered to pay $407.50 in court costs and fees, according to court records, which state she has paid the entire amount.
Defense attorney Robert Schefter filed a motion Aug. 14 asking Common Pleas Judge Gregory M. Snyder to order the return of Godfrey's Mossberg 500 shotgun, according to court records.
On Tuesday, Snyder granted the motion and ordered the .410-bore shotgun returned to Godfrey, court records state.
The background: North Hopewell Township Police filed charges against Godfrey on May 4.
Court documents alleged her teenage grandson was at the home Godfrey shares with adult son Travis Knaper, who is the teen's father, on April 14, helping to pull out fence posts.
Knaper thought his son was being disrespectful, and the two ended up tussling on the ground, police have said.
The teen told officers he got up and intended to leave but was waiting for his two brothers to get into his pickup truck, according to court documents.
The teen told officers that while he was standing at his truck, he saw his grandmother point her shotgun at him, which happened four or five minutes after he heard someone fire the shotgun, documents state.
The teen fled the property on foot and called 911 as he was running, police said.
Teen warned cop: He was disheveled and muddy when an officer arrived at the scene, police said, and he warned the officer that his grandmother was armed.
"She's got a gun, and she's f—ing insane; they're all insane," the teen said, according to documents.
The teen's two brothers said they didn't see what happened, documents state.
Godfrey admitted she fired the shotgun from the porch, but only in the air, according to documents.
She denied pointing the weapon at her grandson, police have said.
— Reach senior crime reporter Liz Evans Scolforo at levans@yorkdispatch.com or on Twitter at @LizScolforoYD.