After a fight, Delaware County man ran over his girlfriend with his pickup truck, killing her, police say
Shantal Harmon was "running for her life," witnesses said, before her boyfriend ran her over with his pick-up truck, killing her, at a gas station in Tinicum last week.
Before Daniel Williams killed his girlfriend by running her down with his pickup truck and repeatedly driving over her body at a gas station, they had a bitter fight and she fled, authorities said Tuesday.
Surveillance footage recorded Williams, 36, following Shantel Harmon in his truck as she screamed and sprinted toward a Sunoco station along a busy road in Tinicum Township on Thursday. Harmon, 26, tried to run for safety inside the gas station’s store, authorities said, but Williams crashed his truck into the building, killing her and badly injuring another customer.
“The video clearly shows her running for her life into the gas station parking lot and his pickup truck following behind her at high speed,” Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun M. Copeland said Tuesday.
Williams, of Chester, was found hiding under a car on East Eighth Street in Chester minutes after the crash with Harmon’s gold Visa Green Dot card in his wallet. He was charged Friday with first- and third-degree murder, criminal homicide, aggravated assault, and related crimes. Judge Jack D. Lippart denied Williams bail and sent him to the Delaware County prison.
Just before 9 p.m. Thursday, Tinicum police responded to the report of a car crash at the Sunoco station on Industrial Highway, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Williams’ arrest. The responding sergeant found the front of the gas station’s store destroyed. Harmon and the second victim lay on the floor of the store, where others tried to help them.
A witness told police he chased Williams’ silver Nissan Titan from the crash, calling 911 while driving on I-95 and into Chester. He relayed Williams’ license plate number to a dispatcher along the way.
Back at the gas station, another witness told police he heard tires screeching, then saw a woman lying on the sidewalk underneath a pickup truck. The truck, the witness said, backed up, drove forward into the store, then reversed and fled.
Harmon, also of Chester, was later pronounced dead at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia.
“He hit her and she fell down. And he backed up the truck and hit her again," said Kulwinder Singh, manager of the gas station, where snacks, drinks, and shards of glass were scattered about after the crash.
When officers arrested Williams, he was lethargic and had garbled speech, according to the affidavit. He was taken to Crozer-Chester Medical Center to be evaluated and was later released.
Williams’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9.