Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Police: Handyman hits 2 with his van, killing 1, in dispute over $80
A Delray Beach woman was killed and her daughter was injured after they were struck by a van in a dispute with a handyman over an $80 debt, police said.
According to the arrest report, Elson Silencieux, 39, of Boynton Beach, used his 2004 Ford van to run over Marie Ambroise, 59, and then hit Nutrishia Pardieu, 28, just before 6 p.m. Friday.
“He killed my sister for nothing,” sister Lidia Ambroise told Sun Sentinel news partner WPEC-CBS12.
Marie Ambroise had hired Silencieux about a week earlier to do some work on the ceiling of her home in the 2400 block of Angler Drive for about $700 to $800, investigators said.
Ambroise had told her daughter she was unsatisfied with Silencieux’s work because it was not finished.
When he showed up Friday to collect his tools and the $80 balance, Ambroise and Silencieux started arguing. Pardieu overheard the argument and came outside to see what was happening, police said.
Another neighborhood handyman, Jean Destine, also witnessed the argument in the street, detectives said.
At one point, Silencieux took a swing at Ambroise but missed. Pardieu stepped between them to protect her mother but was hit in the face by Sliencieux’s second swing. He then struck Ambroise in the head with his third swing, Pardieu and Destine told police.
Ambroise went behind the van to write down Silencieux’s license plate number but he went back there and tried to rip the plate off the van. Then, he started the van, put it in reverse, and backed over Ambroise twice, detectives said.
When Pardieu stepped in front of the van to prevent Silencieux from leaving, she was struck by the van, investigators said.
Both women were found unconscious in the street and taken to Delray Medical Center where Ambroise died about an hour later, police said.
Silencieux was found and arrested outside his Boynton Beach home. He is facing charges that include murder, hit and run, and aggravated battery, jail records showed.