Tow-truck driver gets life sentence in rival’s murder

The Philadelphia tow truck driver on trial for using his truck to mow down a rival driver in 2010 testified Wednesday morning that he was too drunk to know what he was doing.

Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart didn't buy it, and just before noon, he found Glen McDaniel, 27, guilty of first-degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime.

Minehart immediately sentenced McDaniel to life in state prison without the possibility for parole.

McDaniel, who was described as an "enforcer" for the Straight Up Towing company, repeatedly ran over fellow driver Ray Santiago, 30, of rival company Siani's Towing, after the men fought over towing territory at 2:45 a.m. on Sept. 26, 2010.

"He got a split lip, and because he couldn't beat him with his fists, he got in his truck and mashed him like a bug," Assistant District Attorney James Berardinelli told Minehart in his closing argument.

Public Defender Andrea Konow said it was "ridiculous" to suggest that McDaniel would run a man over to avenge a split lip.

Surveillance video in the parking lot of O'Reilly's Pub, at Frankford and Lehigh avenues, recorded the murder. Minehart, who presided over the trial without a jury, watched the video several times and visited the murder scene.