MISSOULA — Bradley Nagel, charged with running over and killing Lucille Synek in the parking lot of a Missoula grocery store, appeared in court on Monday morning.
Nagel pleaded not guilty to all charges filed in connection with the October16 death that occurred in the parking lot of WinCo Food on South Reserve Street.
Nagel told a police officer at the scene that he and Synek — who were in a relationship — had been arguing about relationship problems outside his truck.
Nagel said he tried to leave the area to cool off, but Synek stood in front of his truck and refused to move.
Court documents state: “Nagel drove his truck forward in a jerking fashion, hoping that Synek would move out of the way. Nagel explained that at some point Synek fell to the ground, and he ran her over."
A witness said that he had seen a man and a woman arguing and saw the woman kick the taillight of the male’s truck. The man then kicked the headlight of the woman's vehicle. The witness said the man got into his truck and the woman grabbed on to the driver’s side of the truck near the rear wheel-well.
According to court documents, the witness heard “the female yell, ‘stop. I’m stuck,’ but the male continued to drive forward.” The witness also told police he saw the man – later identified as Nagel – drive over the victim with his rear, driver-side tire.
The witness later told detectives that during the initial argument, he saw the woman hit and push the man several times, and according to court documents said, “it did not look like the male ran over the female on purpose.”
Detectives viewed surveillance video of the incident and according to court documents, “Nagel stopped his truck for approximately one and one-half seconds while Synek was lying on the ground. Nagel then drove over Synek’s head/shoulder area.
After hitting her, Nagel stopped his truck again, got out, and stood over Synek’s body. A short time later, he got back into his truck and moved the truck into a parking spot. Bystanders began helping Synek while Nagel stayed in his truck. He later got out again to check on Synek."
Synek was taken to a Missoula hospital where she later passed away.
Nagel pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide and also to a third DUI charge during his court appearance Monday.
Click here to view the court documents associated with the case.
