Nova crash case twist: Wrong man arrested

A Bryn Mawr man has admitted he was the driver of a stolen Range Rover SUV that rear-ended a Jetta early Wednesday morning, killing a Villanova student and injuring another student.

Donald Sayers, 30, of the 100 block of Charles Drive Bryn Mawr, surrendered to authorities Thursday night at the home of his girlfriend in Upper Darby.

Police dropped all charges against Kenneth Woods, 21, of West Philadelphia who had been charged Thursday with 3rd degree murder and related offenses in connection with the crash.

Woods returned to the West Philadelphia home he shares with his mother and other relatives shortly before 1:30 p.m. Friday, still wearing the blue cookie monster sweatshirt he was arrested in.

Despite the fact that he was labeled an accused killer on the front pages of newspapers and on television, Woods said he wasn't angry at the police.

"They were just doing their job," he said. "I'm just glad to be home."

Sayers was being held at the Delaware County Prison n $1 million cash bail - even as Woods was being released.

Police in Haverford Township who worked the case around the clock said information provided by Woods after he was charged helped lead them to his friend Sayers.

Delaware County District Attorney Michael Green, at a press briefing this morning, expressed no remorse that authorities had initially arrested the wrong man, thansk to a palm print found in the stolen vehicle and a cell phone that purportedly contained Woods' photo.

Green said Woods helped matters by telling what he knew. "Candor is so important," the prosecutor said. He did come around."

According to an affidavit of probable cause attached to the criminal complaint against Sayers, Woods told authorities he had touched the stolen Range Rover - but hadn't driven it and was not in it when the crash occurred. Woods led police to seek Sayers at the home of his girlfriend, but he wasn't there.

The affidavit said Sayers called police at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday and said: "I am sorry for what happened, it was an accident, and I want to turn myself in."

Detectives went to Sayers girlfriend's house on Aberdeen Road in Upper Darby and took him into custody. Sayers told officials he was the sole occupant of the SUV at the time of the crash.

He told police that at 5 p.m. Tuesday he was in a 7-11 store on County Line and Glenbrook roads in the Radnor Township section of Bryn Mawr when he was approached by a stranger who offered to rent him the SUV.

Sayers told police he paid the man $45 cash and drove the car to Philadelphia, where he met up with his friend Woods - who at some point worked on wiring a CD player in the car. Later, Sayers told police, he dropped Woods off and headed back that night towards his mother's residence in Bryn Mawr.

En route - in the early hours Wednesday morning - Sayers spotted a Haverford Township patrol car that appeared interested in him, according to the affidavit.

Sayers said he had consumed a 40 oz. container of beer and smoked PCP prior to the crash. Worried the patrol car would catch up to him and arrest him for drunken driving and a suspended license, he accelerated north on Haverford Road.

Police said the car reached speeds of 100 m.p.h.

Sayers told police he tried to stop but could not avoid hitting the Jetta. The impact killed Daniel M. Giletta, 21 of Wyckoff, N.J., and severely injured Frank DiChiara, 22, of Old Tom's River, N.J. Both were seniors at Villanova University.

At the police press conference this morning, Woods's godfather, Robert Herdelin, praised the work of Haverford Township Police but said common sense pointed to his godson's not being involved in the fatal crash.

"This kid did not have a mark on him," Herdelin said. "You go 100 m.p.h. and you don't have a scratch? That's ridiculous."

The arrest caused Woods to lose a job he had just started at McDonalds, but on Friday Woods said he would try to get it back.