Pennsylvania Amish Man Now on Probation for Speeding

An Amish man received two years probation yesterday for leading police on a car chase at speeds of 120 miles per hour.

Sylvan M. Stoltzfus pleaded guilty yesterday to charges he drove away from police in Dauphin County after they attempted to pull him over for having an obscured license plate. (Hmm. I would have thought it was, “For being a person in Amish garb driving a car,” though that’s not illegal.) The chase began on Route 209 near Elizabethville and went for about eight miles before Stoltzfus crashed into a parked car near the Millersburg post office.

Amish people have been arrested for traffic violations before, with a notable case in Kentucky where nine were arrested for not affixing orange triangles to the backs of their buggies. Two years ago, four Amish young people in Western New York were arrested for illegal possession of alcohol after their buggy hit a cop car.

Stoltzfus will be on probation for two years. Here’s hoping for the best. Right now, the story appears headed for a happy ending:

His lawyer, Gary Lysaght, said the 19-year-old Millersburg-area man won’t be getting behind a steering wheel again.

“His parents sold his car,” Lysaght told county President Judge Todd A. Hoover. “He now has his own horse and buggy.” […] His client isn’t likely to get in trouble again, he said. “He’s more involved in the church than he ever was before,” Lysaght said.

With any luck, this will be the only time Stoltzfus makes the news.