Police in Bucks County have apprehended a man who, officials believe, killed another man by striking him with his pickup truck in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant -- then driving over him -- back in February.
On Monday, Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub announced that Daniel Stephen Dietrich, 45, of Palmyra, New Jersey, was arrested and charged with homicide, driving with a suspended license, accidents involving death and related offenses in the death of 47-year-old Jason Smith, who had recently moved to the area.
Weintraub said, tips from the public helped track down Dietrich.
"We could not have solved this homicide without the public's help," said Weintraub.
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The deadly hit-and-run took place around 4 p.m. on Feb. 5, 2023, in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant at 7700 Bristol Pike in Levittown.
Immediately after the incident in February, officials released images of a pickup truck that was involved.
Before Dietrich's arrest, Weintraub had initially called for the driver of the pickup truck to turn themselves in, noting that, if the driver was in fear of their lives, the incident may have been justified.
However, further investigation, he said, proved that would not be the case.
"The defendant caused, and then aggravated, this altercation, when he had many other peaceful options at his disposal," said Weintraub.
Weintraub said the incident began after Smith got into an altercation with the driver of a pickup truck prior to the hit-and-run.
In retelling the events that led to Smith's death, Weintraub said both drivers pulled into the restaurant's parking lot, then Dietrich pulled his truck along the right side of Smith’s car, before he stopped in the entrance-way area, blocking the entrance to other traffic.
Dietrich then maneuvered his truck in front of Smith's vehicle, blocking Smith’s possible forward motion, according to police.
Surveillance video showed Smith, then parking his car, getting out and opening his trunk to retrieve a hammer, said Weintraub.
Smith then began to approach the front of Dietrich’s truck, but as he got close, Weintraub said, Dietrich drove forward and made a hard left turn into Smith, striking him with the front of the truck and knocking him to the ground.
Dietrich then continued to make the hard left turn, running over Smith with both the front and rear driver’s side wheels of his truck, said the district attorney.
Weintraub said that said, after running over Smith's body, Dietrich never stopped to help -- never even slowed down -- before exiting the McDonald's parking lot and fleeing toward Tullytown on U.S. Route 13.
"Dietrich then fled the area. Not stopping. Not slowing down. Not calling 9-1-1," said the district attorney.
Smith died after suffering major blunt force trauma to his chest and torso, said Weintraub.
Officials said that, if Dietrich was attempting to avoid a confrontation, he could have driven his truck to the right and out of the parking spot in order to avoid striking and killing Smith.
"There were so many options that the defendant could have taken, and he exercised the only deadly one," said Weintraub.
Court documents note that Dietrich has his preliminary arraignment on Friday. He was denied bail. Online court documents don't list an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
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