Burlington Co. Man Charged With Homicide After Running Over Victim In Pennsylvania: DA

BRISTOL TOWNSHIP, PA — A Burlington County resident intentionally ran over and killed a man in a McDonald's parking lot in Pennsylvania last month, authorities said Monday.

Daniel Stephen Dietrich, of Palmyra, was charged with criminal homicide, accidents involving death or personal injury, accidents involving death or injury while not licensed, and driving on a suspended driver’s license.

Dietrich, 45, was arraigned Friday and placed in the Bucks County Correctional Facility. He was denied bail.

Jason Smith, 47, of Levittown, Pennsylvania, was struck and killed by the pickup truck driven by Dietrich on Feb. 5 at the McDonald's at 7700 Bristol Pike in Bristol Township, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office. After the crash, Dietrich exited the parking lot and drove down Route 13 toward Tullytown, authorities said.

An ensuing investigation, which tips from the public aided, led authorities to identify Dietrich as the driver of the fleeing pickup truck, the DA's office said. Law enforcement found that the two men had been involved in an earlier driving incident about a mile before they arrived at McDonald's.

At the restaurant, surveillance footage captured Smith’s Nissan entering the McDonald’s parking lot from the Haines Road entrance. Seconds later, Dietrich pulled his truck along the right side of Smith’s car, then stopped in the entrance-way area, blocking the entrance to other traffic.

Dietrich maneuvered his truck in front of Smith, blocking Smith’s possible forward motion, authorities said. He then backed into a parking spot, so that the front of his truck was angled toward the north side of the parking lot and away from where he entered the McDonald's parking lot, according to the DA's office.

Smith parked along the curb, got out of his car and opened his trunk, retrieving a hammer, the footage showed. He began to approach the front of Dietrich’s truck, but as he got close, Dietrich drove forward toward him and made a hard left turn into Smith, authorities said.

The front side of the truck struck Smith, knocking him to the ground. Dietrich continued to make the hard left turn, running over Smith with both the front and rear driver’s side wheels of his truck, according to law enforcement.

Dietrich never slowed down and continued driving out of the McDonald’s parking lot onto northbound Route 13, authorities said. The surveillance footage also revealed that Dietrich had an alternative, clear exit out of the parking spot by driving to the right.

Dietrich could have driven his truck to the right and out of the parking spot to avoid striking and running over Smith, found the investigation by Bucks County and Bristol Township detectives with assistance from law enforcement in New Jersey.

Smith's fiancée Elise Poore had been seeking answers into his death and was trying to get the word out to have the suspect identified.