COAL TOWNSHIP, NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU-TV) — A man is behind bars in the Northumberland County jail after police say he ran over his ex-girlfriend with his jeep and left her to die.
Police responded to West Arch Street on May 21 to find Cheyenne Swartz unconscious in a pool of her own blood. She was taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville where she died a few days later.
Montour County Coroner Scott Lynn says the manner of death was homicide.
“The initial exam our office did showed she was dragged and rolled from a vehicle,” Lynn told Eyewitness News.
Now, Stephan Kruskie is behind bars in relation to her death.
“Stephen was operating his vehicle, a 1994 Jeep Cherokee west on Arch Street. Cheyenne Swartz was the passenger with him. They have been in and out of a relationship. Some type of an argument ensued at which point she was trying to get out of the vehicle,” Coal Township Police Department Detective Matthew Hashuga said.
Hashuga says Kruskie’s story changed multiple times during the investigation.
“He was operating his vehicle in a reckless manner at a high rate of speed at which point when she did get out of the vehicle, she was dragged, which is how she sustained her injuries which led to her death,” he said.
Kruskie was denied bail and faces a plethora of charges.
“He was charged with 13 separate charges ranging from aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, homicide by vehicle and several traffic offenses,” Hashuga said.
