NJ man charged in fatal ‘road rage’ hit-and-run crash

Ex-Easton resident killed in incident in Bucks County

A New Jersey man is charged in the hit-and-run death of a former Easton man last month outside of a Bucks County McDonald’s.

On Friday, Daniel Stephen Dietrich, 45, was arraigned on charges alleging he struck Jason Smith, 47, at a McDonald’s in Bristol Township, then fled the scene on Feb. 5.

Dietrich, of Palmyra, N.J., is charged with homicide, accidents involving death or personal injury and accidents involving death or personal injury while not licensed. He was sent to Bucks County Prison without bail.

Bristol Township police and Bucks County Detectives received an anonymous tip Thursday about the vehicle that struck Smith, according to court documents. Smith, who had been living in the Bristol Township area for the past six years, was fatally struck by a truck while in the parking lot of McDonald’s along Route 13, also called Bristol Pike, about 4 p.m.

The tip included a picture of the truck, which investigators were able to track down to a home in Palmyra.

Police surveilled the home and found Dietrich, whohad an active warrant for his arrest in New Jersey, entering the truck, police said. Dietrich was then taken into custody.

Dietrich spoke to police, and told them he had an altercation with Smith on Feb. 5, court documents state. He said he had gotten onto Route 13 from Interstate 95, and he may have cut Smith off when he was merging, police allege.

Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said during a news conference Monday morning that the two engaged in a verbal altercation while in their vehicles along Route 13 before getting to the McDonald’s.

Dietrich told police that Smith refused to go through a green light at the intersection of Haines Road and Route 13, which caused him turn into the nearby McDonald’s, according to police. Authorities viewed surveillance footage from that intersection and saw that wasn’t the case.

Police said Smith turned onto Haines Road and turned left into the McDonald’s, and Dietrich was following behind him the whole time, court documents state.

Smith parked alongside the restaurant while Dietrich backed into a spot in the lot, officials said.

Dietrich told investigators that Smith got out and went into his truck to get something, later identified as a hammer, and approached Dietrich’s truck, officials said.

“Dietrich then knocked Smith down with his truck and ran over him,” Weintraub said. “Dietrich then fled the area.”

Dietrich admitted he did not call 911 because his license was suspended, police said.

Authorities reviewed surveillance footage and determined Dietrich could have avoided striking Smith had he turned right instead of left, according to court documents.

“He could’ve easily driven to the right and avoided this whole terrible, tragic, criminal incident,” Weintraub said.

Smith was taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia, where he was later pronounced dead.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Weintraub said the incident was not a self-defense case because Dietrich caused and aggravated the altercation. The two men, the DA said, did not know each other before the “road rage-type altercation.”

“Not every incident on the roadway is cause to demonstrate road rage in any form,” the DA said. “Because this is sometimes the deadly consequences.”

Smith worked as a forklift operator and truck driver for Kelly Pipe in Fairless Hills.

Dietrich’s preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for March 21. He did not have an attorney listed for him Monday.