Kenneth Woods was a pretty popular guy last week.
That was him on the front page of Friday’s Daily Times after he was arrested and charged in the fatal crash that took the life of a Villanova student.
It only took a couple of hours Friday morning before it became apparent that authorities had some problems with their case.
Early Friday morning we received a call here in the newsroom from Bob Herdelin, the colorful owner of Cheers bar in Upper Darby. It turns out Herdelin is Woods’ godfather. And he was willing to tell anyone who would listen that Woods was not the driver of the car, as had been alleged.
Pretty soon, police were agreeing with him.
Acting on information they apparently got from Woods, authorities soon announced they had made a second arrest in the case, and that man, Donnie Sayers, had confessed to being the driver.
They also indicated they were dropping all charges against Woods.
At a hastily announced press conference, Haverford police and D.A. Mike Green were saying exactly that, less than 24 hours after bringing the charges against Green.
Of course, it was about this time that much of Delaware County was being submerged by torrential rains. Several areas of the county were under water, including Darby Borough, where some residents were being rescued from their homes, along with Haverford, Chester City, Chester Township and Upland.
It was a big story. But it was not our biggest story.
Kenneth Woods was. For the second straight day.
It would have been easy to simply put the folo story on the charges being dropped against Woods inside and lead the paper with the travails stemming from the Great Flood of 2010.
But it would have been the wrong thing to do. That was Woods youthful face plastered all over Page One on Friday under the screaming headline, “Nabbed.”
And that was him back on the front page on Saturday, under the equally large headline, “Cleared.”
It was a good story. It was also the right thing to do.
That was him on the front page of Friday’s Daily Times after he was arrested and charged in the fatal crash that took the life of a Villanova student.
It only took a couple of hours Friday morning before it became apparent that authorities had some problems with their case.
Early Friday morning we received a call here in the newsroom from Bob Herdelin, the colorful owner of Cheers bar in Upper Darby. It turns out Herdelin is Woods’ godfather. And he was willing to tell anyone who would listen that Woods was not the driver of the car, as had been alleged.
Pretty soon, police were agreeing with him.
Acting on information they apparently got from Woods, authorities soon announced they had made a second arrest in the case, and that man, Donnie Sayers, had confessed to being the driver.
They also indicated they were dropping all charges against Woods.
At a hastily announced press conference, Haverford police and D.A. Mike Green were saying exactly that, less than 24 hours after bringing the charges against Green.
Of course, it was about this time that much of Delaware County was being submerged by torrential rains. Several areas of the county were under water, including Darby Borough, where some residents were being rescued from their homes, along with Haverford, Chester City, Chester Township and Upland.
It was a big story. But it was not our biggest story.
Kenneth Woods was. For the second straight day.
It would have been easy to simply put the folo story on the charges being dropped against Woods inside and lead the paper with the travails stemming from the Great Flood of 2010.
But it would have been the wrong thing to do. That was Woods youthful face plastered all over Page One on Friday under the screaming headline, “Nabbed.”
And that was him back on the front page on Saturday, under the equally large headline, “Cleared.”
It was a good story. It was also the right thing to do.
Comments