William R. Strother, 59, of the 200 block of Main Street in Darby, remains detained after police say he struck a man in the head with a hatchet during a dispute over a vehicle's license plate. Strother faces felony aggravated assault and related charges.
Police and EMS responded Tuesday night to Main and North Third streets after a caller reported that a man had been struck in the head with a hatchet, according to Delco Times. The victim told officers he had been trying to record the license plate of a vehicle in an alley when he was attacked. He identified a man to police, saying, “that's him with his dog.”
Police found the reported attack scene in the rear of North Third Street and arrested the man identified by the victim after he put his dog inside, according to the criminal complaint cited by Delaware County Times.
A Bicycle Collision Two Days Earlier
The attack, officers were told, was connected to a separate incident two days prior. The victim said that on September 6, DD struck him with a vehicle while he was riding a bicycle on Island Avenue, then fled the scene, according to the victim's account relayed to police. The victim suffered a gash between 1 and 1½ inches long on the top of his head and was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center for evaluation.
Bicycle Crash Context
The verified statewide data available here do not specify how many bicycle-involved crashes were hit-and-runs. But according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's 2025 crash report, Pennsylvania recorded 1,350 bicycle crashes that year, the highest total in the past five years. That figure provides broader bicycle-safety context but does not, by itself, measure the frequency of bicycle-involved hit-and-run crashes.
Penn Presbyterian, located in West Philadelphia, houses Penn Medicine's Level 1 Trauma Center within its Pavilion for Advanced Care, according to Penn Medicine, which serves critically injured patients across southeastern Pennsylvania. The dossier does not indicate whether additional charges have been filed over the alleged September 6 hit-and-run. Under Pennsylvania's vehicle code, leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injury carries a mandatory one-year license suspension upon conviction in addition to any criminal charges, per FindLaw.
Charges and Bail
Officer Bryce McElhiney filed the criminal complaint against Strother, who is charged with aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, and related offenses, as noted by Delaware County Times. He was arraigned before District Judge David H. Lang, who set bail at 10 percent of $100,000. Strother was unable to post bail and was taken to Delaware County Prison.
Lang, who handled the preliminary arraignment as duty judge, normally presides over Magisterial District Court 32-1-27 in Broomall and Marple Township, according to Delaware County Government records. The prison where Strother is held, officially the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornton, serves as the county's central detention site for pre-trial detainees and inmates serving sentences under two years. The facility has seen recent leadership turnover, including the resignation of its warden in June, even as the county pushes forward with a $50 million capital improvement project there, according to WHYY.
What Comes Next in Court
Strother is scheduled to appear before Magisterial District Judge Lee Cullen Grimes for a preliminary hearing on September 25. Grimes presides over Magisterial District Court 32-1-23 in Collingdale, which holds territorial jurisdiction over Collingdale Borough as well as Wards 1, 2, and 3 (Precinct 2) of Darby Borough, per Delaware County Government's court division records. At that hearing, prosecutors must establish a prima facie case — sufficient evidence that a crime occurred and reasonable cause to believe Strother committed it — before the charges can be held for trial.
If the case proceeds, it would move from Magisterial District Court to the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas in Media for further proceedings, a two-tiered process required for felony prosecutions in the county, according to legal resources including Latoison Law. Aggravated assault involving a deadly weapon in Pennsylvania is classified as a first- or second-degree felony under 18 Pa.C.S. § 2702, carrying maximum statutory penalties of up to 20 years in state prison and fines reaching $25,000, per Ciccarelli Law Offices.
Darby Borough, where the attack was reported, is a municipality of roughly 0.8 square miles in eastern Delaware County, located about 5 miles southwest of Center City Philadelphia and home to approximately 10,680 residents, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Strother's preliminary hearing and the status of any additional charges tied to the alleged Island Avenue collision remain pending.
