WASILLA -- A Texas man who was run over and badly injured during a Trapper Creek music festival is back in Austin recovering and a local man is in jail, charged with drunk driving, felony assault and attempted murder.

Rodney Humphrey, 48, of Trapper Creek faces a laundry list of crimes after Alaska State Troopers say he deliberately ran over a man sleeping in a field during the festival last month, then drove home to pass out.

On a breath alcohol test done more than 3 hours after the incident was reported, Humphrey registered .202, more than twice the legal limit for driving, according to the charging documents.

The sleeping man, a 25-year-old Texan named Aaron Dorfman, got six broken ribs and a collapsed lung out of the ordeal.

Humphrey told a witness he ran over Dorfman because he was sleeping on private property, according to an affidavit filed in Palmer Superior Court.

The incident happened about 8 p.m. Aug. 22, the second night of the three-night festival. Dorfman said he was in Alaska visiting his girlfriend. They drove up from Homer, where she lives, to attend the festival. With some friends, they went to a nearby field and sat, playing guitars.

On the way to the field, they passed "no trespassing" signs but others were in the field, he said. Tired from the drive, he laid down in the grass for a nap while his friends went back to the festival.

Not long afterward, he woke suddenly and in pain. A black 1984 Ford Ranger with oversized tires had driven over him. He didn't see or hear it coming, he said.

"I kind of jolted awake. It's all very hazy. I remember being in excruciating pain, calling out, saying, 'Somebody please help me.' The moment I realized what happened, people had already gathered around me," he said.

Someone called an ambulance and the Alaska State Troopers. He learned later that another festival-goer had witnessed the whole thing and tried to stop the driver, who troopers say was Humphrey.

Humphrey told a witness "he had ran Dorfman over because he was on private property," an affidavit from Trooper Shayne Calt says.

According to the affidavit, Humphrey sped away, nearly hitting other vehicles. Calt later arrested him at his nearby home, where they found him passed out.

Humphrey was initially charged with first-degree assault, driving under the influence and driving without a valid license.

Additional charges followed -- first-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault, all felonies. A trial is set for Nov. 9 in Palmer Superior Court.

Troopers impounded his Ranger and he remains in custody on $25,000 bail.

Now back in Texas, Dorfman said by phone he's resumed his job, teaching guitar at a private school in Austin. He has trouble taking deep breaths and is still in pain from his injuries.

But he feels pretty lucky to be alive, he said, and he's glad Humphrey is being held accountable for apparently deliberately driving over him.

"In some way, I expect that justice is going to prevail and he's going to go to jail for a long time," Dorfman said. But Humphrey's arrest won't benefit him much -- the Trapper Creek man was uninsured, he said.

The Trapper Creek festival is a newer, smaller event than its neighbor, the Talkeetna Bluegrass Festival. Coordinator Boot Rousseau bought 80 acres near Mile 114 of the Parks Highway from the state and for the past four years has held two festivals there each year, one in May and a second in August.

Rousseau said Dorfman wasn't actually in the field when he was run over. He was in a public right-of-way leading to the field.

Rousseau said he's planning a benefit show to raise money for the Alaska Violent Crimes Compensation Board, which paid for Dorfman's medical care. It's set for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Taproot Cafe on Huffman Road in Anchorage.

Find Daily News reporter Rindi White online at adn.com/contact/rwhite or call her at 352-6709.

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