A state snowplow driver is being hailed as a Good Samaritan by a Bennington couple but now he's in trouble. Nebraska roads officials are accusing him of using state equipment to do a favor and he could lose his job over the incident.

Alice Howard needed to get her husband to a doctor's appointment last Friday but the couple's car couldn't cut through snowdrifts covering their country lane.

Bob Howard is a heart patient who had a scheduled check-up and complained of some chest pain. His wife didn't want to cancel.

Private contractors couldn't help so Alice's husband called the state maintenance yard in Elkhorn where an acquaintance of the couple answered. He responded in 40 minutes.

When a state plow got stuck in a drift, the maintenance supervisor called in a second plow. It got stuck as well so he brought in a loader to clear out the driveway.

Thirty-year state employee Chuck Odom was suspended with pay pending a Roads Department internal investigation. His only comment to Channel 6 News is that he was trying to do a good deed, not put state equipment to personal use.

But are the Howards acquaintances who had a medical emergency or friends getting a favor?

Alice Howard says, "I think he should be rewarded instead of reprimanded for helping us out. Just a nice guy who did us a nice favor and he shouldn't be suspended over this."

The two plows were tied up on the private property for about two hours.

We contacted state officials about the incident but the district engineer for the Omaha area says he can't comment because it's a personnel matter.