Man charged with first-degree murder in death of woman struck by car in Cole Harbour

A 33-year-old man is facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of a woman struck by a car in Cole Harbour on Monday.

RCMP allege that the victim, 30, was intentionally hit at the intersection of Shrewsbury Road and Covey Court shortly before 3:30 p.m

Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay said a Good Samaritan noticed the woman was in distress and being held against her will in a vehicle at a nearby home and tried to get her out of the car.

“The Good Samaritan was knocked to the ground when she was trying to the pull the woman out of the vehicle and the driver put the vehicle in reverse,” Tremblay said. “The Good Samaritan fell to the ground along with the victim.”

Police allege that the man in the car then deliberately drove into the woman who had been inside the car, then sped off.

“Two off-duty officers who were nearby rendered assistance to them immediately,” Tremblay said.

The woman was rushed to hospital by ambulance but did not survive her injuries. A street signpost at the intersection was bent over where it was been struck.

The Good Samaritan was treated at the scene for minor injuries.

Police issued an emergency alert asking the public to be on the lookout for Aaron Daniel Crawley and the dark grey Mercedes C300 he was believed to be driving.

The alert described Crawley as dangerous and warned the public not to approach him.

Tremblay said someone who got the alert saw Crawley and reported his location to police. Crawley was arrested on foot in Westphal shorty after 6 p.m.

Crawley was held in custody overnight Monday. He is expected to appear before a justice of the peace by phone or video Tuesday, and then appear in in Dartmouth provincial court Wednesday. Besides the murder charge, he is also facing a single count of assault with a weapon and four counts of failing to comply with a court order.

Police spent Monday night and Tuesday morning looking for the car, which was located in East Preston, Tremblay said at 1 p.m. He didn’t know if the vehicle was damaged.

Crawley has several other charges already before the court, including causing damage by fire while being reckless as to whether the building was occupied, two counts of assault, choking, assault with a weapon, mischief, dangerous driving and four counts of breaching a court order from incidents on June 8 in East Preston, and assault with a weapon, dangerous driving and uttering threats in Dartmouth on May 24.

He was last in court Sept. 25, and is scheduled to be in Dartmouth provincial court on those charges Jan. 15. He was released on $6,200 bail, on June 22, although it was a contested hearing and the Crown was opposed to his release. Some of the charges related to the homicide victim, and among the release conditions Crawley had been ordered not have contact with her or four other people and to stay away from ther homes, schools or workplaces, as well as two addresses in Dartmouth and another in East Preston.

Crawley lived on Shrewsbury Road across the street from Covey Court and had a long relationship with the victim.

Brian Cox, the president of the Nova Scotia Crown Attorneys’ Association, said the woman’s death “was a terrible tragedy.”

He said that “for every Crown attorney who handles a case of domestic violence, this is a worst-case scenario. It’s an outcome that we fear the most.

“In the days and weeks to come I’m sure there may be questions about bail, or domestic violence, or even the justice system broadly, but right now our hearts go out to the family of the victim (but) this is a time to grieve. These are the types of serious cases that Crown attorneys deal with and this case speaks to the seriousness and complexities of the matters we deal with.”