An after incident witness to the hit-and-run killing of a Bristol Borough Firemen has come forward in recent days with a troubling story to tell they  shared with Lower Bucks Source.

Daniel Santiago, 53 a firefighter for the Goodwill Hose Company #3 in Bristol was struck and killed in the early hours of June 29 in the area of the 5500 block of Bristol Pike (AKA Route 13).  The case has remained an open since then despite the dogged efforts of local and county investigators.

All leads were exhausted Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said in the Fall of 2021 at a press conference to highlight the unsolved murder.

Until now…

The witness approached Lower Bucks Source about one week ago and shared the following about the events on the night of June 29.

“He was going into Wawa, and I was coming out. We talked for a couple of minutes and then I went on my way,” the source said.

The witness went on…

So I’m walking down 13 southbound side, and all of a sudden something hits me in the back of the leg. I turn around and its a bike, and its mangled. Some feet ahead of me, near the entrance to the Villager Motel, I see a body laying there, and look up and see a vehicle making a right hand turn by the Dunkin Donuts. By this time a woman in a passing vehicle stopped and I think she called 911 to get help because I never saw her again.

The witness provided specific details about the described striking vehicle this publication will not release as it could hamper the police investigation.

The witness continued….

Moments later Bristol Township Police and First Responders arrived on scene.

“They started to mark off the area as I was standing there and one of the responding cops said “get the hell out here .”

I wanted to help …but I’m thinking he know’s I’m homeless and decided I had no help to offer police.”

As to why the source has kept this to themselves for so long, their response was “they didn’t want to talk to me then, why would they now?”

The source said he went back to the hotel where they were staying with a friend and watched investigators work the crime scene with a friend.

“Understand I wanted to help. I knew Danny, but once I was yelled at for being at the scene, I just moved on hoping they would catch the suspect some other way.

The source also said they did read the news accounts about the press conference held in Bristol Township by Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub in October of 2021.  The hope of the presser was to offer a reward and reach out to the community seeking possible witnesses or anyone who might know something about vehicle involved killing of Santiago.

The Santiago family took part in the October 2021 press conference also. His brother Nick said he missed his “big brother” terribly.

“He was the kind of guy that would give you the shirt of his back”

Locals did all they could at the time to raise awareness and hope witnesses would come forward with helpful information. A hot dog fundraiser was held, raising over $2000.00 and attended by local, county and state officials.

Bucks County Crime Stoppers, through donations from State Rep’s. John Galloway state Rep. Tina Davis and the law firm of Stark & Stark, are added to the a reward of $1,000 to the $3000.00  collected by Santiago’s family.

Life long friend Ismael “Hermie” Rivera of Bristol said at the time,”we need to help his family get some justice and closure.“Hopefully this fundraiser is a step in that direction.”

Bristol Township Police said they couldn’t comment on the information Lower Bucks Source had come across.

“I would like to speak with anyone that witnessed the crash,” said lead investigator Bristol Township Detective Patrick Kitchenmam “the investigation is active and ongoing still.”

Lower Bucks Source contacted a member of Santiago’s family on Friday about the new information and they declined to comment at that time.

Anyone with information on any of these cases, should contact Bucks County Detectives or Bristol Township Police Detectives. Bucks County Detectives can be reached through our CrimeWatch site, which is BUCKSDA.ORG or by phone at 215-348-6354. Bristol Township Police Detectives can be reached at 215-785-4707.

You can also submit confidential tips to authorities here