A Chester County man killed a woman and injured a police chief while fleeing a traffic stop
John Knecht Jr. ran over Brandie Beiseigel during an early-morning traffic stop in Honey Brook Township, police said.
A Chester County driver killed a woman and injured a police chief while fleeing the scene of a traffic stop on Sunday, prosecutors said.
John Knecht Jr., 57, has been charged with homicide by vehicle, reckless endangerment, aggravated assault and related offenses in connection with the events, which happened late Sunday in Honey Brook Township, according to the affidavit of probable causes for his arrest.
Knecht was stopped by Honey Brook Police Chief Calvin Wilsonat about 1 a.m. near a gas station on Horseshoe Pike, the affidavit said. Wilson had noticed a pickup truck parked near the station, went to investigate, and when he ran the vehicle’s registration, he saw that it was connected to an active arrest warrant.
Wilson recognized Knecht, the truck’s driver, from previous encounters, police said, and he also recognized the vehicle’s passenger, Brandie Beiseigel, 36, as a server at local pizzeria. Knecht gave Wilson an expired driver’s license, and a search the chief ran determined that Knecht had an active warrant for violating his probation in an earlier drug case.
When Wilson returned to the vehicle to take Knecht into custody, Knecht shifted the truck into gear and sped away, dragging Wilson and running over the right side of his body, the affidavit said. When Wilson let go of the vehicle, he saw Beiseigel lying in the roadway nearby, the document said.
A camera mounted in Wilson’s police vehicle recorded the events, according to the affidavit. The footage showed Beiseigel opening the passenger door of the truck during the stop, and then being run over by the vehicle as Knecht drove away.
Beiseigel was taken to Paoli Hospital, where she later died.
Investigators later tracked Knecht down to a home in Lower Alsace Township, Berks County, where they found him hiding in a crawl space in the attic, the affidavit said.
In an interview with detectives, Knecht said that during the traffic stop, he told Beiseigel to get out of the truck because he didn’t want to flee from Wilson while she was in the vehicle. Knecht told the officers that as Wilson attempted to handcuff him, his foot slipped off the brake and onto the gas.
He had no idea, he said, that he had run over Beiseigel or struck Wilson — he believed Beiseigel had already gotten out of the truck, according to the affidavit.