Man gives up after hours on refinery tower

An oil refinery employee, sought for allegedly running over his wife at a Wilmington shopping center, held police and fire officials from throughout Delaware County at bay for several hours from atop a refinery tower in Trainer last night.

Around 9 p.m., the ConocoPhillips operations manager was taken into custody peacefully by Pennsylvania state police. Authorities said he was not armed when he came down.

Delaware state police said the man, identified as Stephen DeJohn, 50, of Chadds Ford, ran over a 47-year-old woman in the Brandywine Town Center parking lot shortly after 2 p.m. in what they described as a domestic incident.

The woman, identified by Delaware County District Attorney G. Michael Green as DeJohn's wife, Michele DeJohn, 47, was hit from behind in the parking lot of a Target and thrown onto the trunk of another car. She was in an area hospital in stable condition with a ruptured spleen, head trauma and head laceration, Green said.

After hitting her, DeJohn hit a parked car before driving to work, police said.

Green said DeJohn's shift at the Trainer refinery began at 3 p.m. He was found at the top of a tower about 5 after coworkers discovered him missing.

Meanwhile, a Marcus Hook police officer, after hearing state police broadcasts, had found DeJohn's car at the refinery.

About 8 p.m., Joseph Brielmann of the Delaware County District Attorney's Office told reporters that "the situation is being managed" and that officials were in communication with the man. The county's Criminal Investigation Division conducted negotiations.

Before DeJohn had been identified, Capt. Donald Cacciatore of the Lower Chichester Fire Company said: "We don't know if this guy's a wacko or a terrorist. We don't know what he has up there."

A fire official said the man was throwing such things as a wrench and a screwdriver at police.

As the night wore on, Brielmann said that the "biggest concern right now is to make sure we prevent catastrophe."

DeJohn's familiarity with the refinery worried authorities, but company engineers said he could not cause major damage from atop the tower, Green said.

Delaware state police charged DeJohn, who last night was in Pennsylvania state police custody, with attempted criminal homicide and fleeing as a fugitive from justice. Green said he would decide today on charges to be filed by Delaware County.

William Tyson, a ConocoPhillips spokesman at the scene, said DeJohn had worked there for 15 years. "He's a seasoned employee," Tyson said.

Tyson, who said he knows DeJohn, called last night's drama "very surprising and shocking."

"The refinery is a close-knit family," Tyson said.