A North Philadelphia man chased down and killed his coworker in a parking lot, police said
Dominique Harris, 30, is accused of stabbing and running over Michael Pickens outside a beer distributor in Bensalem, according to police.
A North Philadelphia man has been charged with murder in Bucks County after investigators said he stabbed and ran over his coworker at a Wendy’s restaurant in Bensalem and then took the man’s body from the crime scene.
Dominique Harris, 30, has been charged with criminal homicide and possession of an instrument of a crime in the death of Michael Pickens, 54, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Harris’ arrest. Harris remained in custody Thursday, denied bail. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.
An employee at the Bensalem Beer & Soda distributor called police just before 9 a.m. Wednesday, saying she had discovered blood, a cell phone, and various articles of clothing in the business’ parking lot, according to Bensalem Public Safety Superintendent William McVey.
Detectives retrieved surveillance from the business and recovered footage of a man, later identified as Harris, chasing after Pickens before stabbing him more than 50 times around 1 a.m. Harris ran from the scene but came back in a silver sedan and ran Pickens over three times, dragging him a short distance, according to the affidavit. At one point, he also allegedly tied a belt around Pickens’ neck and strangled him.
After the attack, Harris loaded Pickens’ body into the backseat of his sedan and drove off, authorities say.
Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub, speaking at a news conference Thursday, said that the crime was appalling and that Harris had hunted Pickens down “like an animal.”
“It shocks your senses to see this, that a person could brutalize another human being in that way,” Weintraub said.
Through interviews with Pickens’ family, investigators learned that he hadn’t come home after finishing his closing shift at the Wendy’s. Security camera footage from the fast-food restaurant shows Pickens taking trash bags out to a dumpster before being chased by Harris toward the beer distributor, the affidavit said.
Detectives later learned that Harris and Pickens got into a fight while working together at Wendy’s on Jan. 27, according to police. McVey said Harris was charged with harassment after the dispute and was fired from the restaurant.
Hours after the crime scene was discovered, Philadelphia police officers pulled Harris over on Broad Street near Hunting Park Avenue, the affidavit said. He was driving a silver Infiniti I30 that police said had bloodstains throughout its interior and also along its rear bumper.
And early Thursday morning, a patrol officer in Bensalem located Pickens’ body near the Cornwells Heights SEPTA station, according to McVey. The officer had been led there by surveillance footage, which recorded Harris driving toward that area after leaving the beer distributor.