Inset: Glenn Stuart Hartman (PBCSO). Background: The farmers market where Hartman allegedly tried to run down a random pedestrian (Google Maps).
A 73-year-old Florida man is accused of intentionally driving his vehicle into a pedestrian at a farmers market, allegedly waiting for "any individual" to walk in front of his car before accelerating and hitting the victim.
Glenn Hartman was taken into custody and charged with one felony count of an offense involving an act committed during another felony that could cause death, court records show.
According to a probable cause affidavit from the Delray Beach Police Department, officers responded on Sept. 13 to the parking lot of the Boys Farmers Market in Delray Beach after a report that a pedestrian had been struck by a vehicle.
Upon arriving, first responders found the victim sitting on a curb in the northernmost portion of the parking lot. Police observed an injury to the bottom of his left leg near his ankle and shin.
The victim told investigators that he had parked on the west side of the lot and was walking toward the entrance when a white vehicle appeared to intentionally veer toward him. He said he was able to push off the vehicle, which ultimately struck only his lower left leg.
Police later went to Delray Medical Center, where Hartman was being treated. After being read his Miranda rights, Hartman allegedly provided a sworn statement in which he admitted to intentionally hitting the victim with his car. The confession was recorded on body-camera footage, police said.
"Hartman stated that he woke up depressed and for the first time, wanted to hurt someone other than himself," the affidavit states. "He then drove to the Boys Farmers Market, backed in and waited for someone to walk in front of his vehicle. Hartman was asked if he went to shop at the market by [the detective] and he stated that he was not there to shop."
Hartman further explained that when he saw the victim "pass in front of him, he stepped on the gas."
The affidavit also notes that before officers arrived at the hospital, an emergency-room physician placed Hartman under a Baker Act hold because the defendant allegedly made an unsolicited statement that "he had driven to the Boys Market to target any individual due to homicidal thoughts." The act allows a person believed to have a mental illness who poses a potential danger to themselves or others to be committed for involuntary psychiatric examination and held for up to 72 hours.
The affidavit does not provide additional details about Hartman's alleged homicidal thoughts or identify any other person he may have intended to target.
Hartman was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail, where he is being held without bond. He is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Oct. 13, records show.