New suspect surrenders in fatal crash with stolen vehicle; 1st suspect freed

THEY SAID they had evidence aplenty, with a cell phone, a palm print and the best kind of witness - a cop - picking the bad guy out of a photo lineup.

But yesterday, one day after charging a West Philadelphia man with murder in the wreck that killed a Villanova student this week, Haverford Township police backpedaled big-time.

They arrested the wrong man, they said, before quickly announcing they now had the correct suspect in custody.

And Donnie Sayers made it easy for them: He called Haverford detectives Thursday night and confessed that he had driven the stolen 2008 Range Rover that plowed into Daniel Giletta's sedan at more than 100 mph just after midnight Wednesday, police said.

The impact instantly killed Giletta, 21, a Villanova senior from Wyckoff, N.J., and critically injured his roommate, Frank Patrick DiChiara, 22, a Villanova junior from Toms River, N.J., who remained in critical condition last night at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Sayers, 28, of Charles Drive near David in Bryn Mawr, turned himself in at his girlfriend's Upper Darby home. He is being held on $1 million bail on charges including murder, vehicular homicide and driving under the influence. Court records show he has at least 10 adult arrests for crimes including car theft and DUI.

Delaware County District Attorney G. Michael Green dropped all charges against Kenny Woods, 21, the West Philadelphia man initially charged. He was freed from the Delaware County jail shortly after lunchtime.

Green offered no apologies.

"This is a good example why candor is important," he said. "He actually cast suspicion on himself by not providing more forthright information initially. Candor when dealing with investigators is important."

Woods, wearing the same Cookie Monster hoodie and black Dickies he went to prison in, disputed Green's claim as he greeted relatives outside his brick home on Aspen Street near 41st yesterday afternoon.

"I was honest from the beginning. I told them I wasn't the driver. I wasn't even in the car," Woods said.

Sayers' story differs; he told police that he picked up Woods in the city, that they had gone to buy cigarettes, and that then he dropped him off.

In fact, few agree on Woods' role in the incident. Friends and relatives Thursday had said Woods entered the car briefly to admire it and fix the CD player.

This much is undisputed: A doctor reported that her Range Rover was stolen from a Radnor Township parking lot sometime between 5:40 and 8:20 p.m. Tuesday.

About midnight that night, a Haverford officer spotted a Range Rover that matched the stolen vehicle's description. He pulled behind it to run the plates, but before he could, the Range Rover roared off.

The officer took off in pursuit, and soon came upon wreckage at Haverford and Rugby roads. The Range Rover driver had rear-ended Giletta's Volkswagen Jetta, then ran.

In announcing Woods' arrest Thursday morning, Haverford Township Police Chief Carmen Pettine said investigators had found Woods' palm print on the Range Rover's rear passenger-side exterior window. Further, they found a cell phone, abandoned in the Range Rover, that contained a photo of a man who looked like Woods. And the officer who tried to stop the Range Rover before the crash later identified Woods from a photo lineup of suspects.

But Thursday night, Sayers told police it was his phone. As for the palm print, Woods acknowledged that he leaned on the Range Rover to peer inside when Sayers stopped by 40th and Parrish streets before the crash.

Sayers told detectives he hadn't stolen the car. Instead, he said, an unknown white man approached him in the 7-Eleven at County Line and Glenbrook roads in Bryn Mawr and offered to rent it to him for $45.

Sayers admitted that he fled the officer because he feared another DUI arrest; he'd downed a 40-ounce beer and smoked PCP earlier that evening, he said. He also was driving with a suspended license from a 2004 DUI.

Sayers suffered only a cut and bruised forearm in the wreck, according to the affidavit.

Yesterday, as uniformed officers led Sayers from Haverford police headquarters to a van to take him to the Delaware County jail, the profusely tattooed defendant hung his head and mumbled: "I'm sorry for what happened."