Volunteer firefighter stabs woman, attacks daughter inside Main Line home, police say

A Broomall volunteer firefighter stabbed a woman and injured her daughter inside their Main Line home early on Feb. 25, investigators said.

The suspect is now facing new criminal charges after allegedly assaulting the woman's teenage daughter, officials said.

On Feb. 26, officials announced that Charles (Chris) Christopher Hall, 40, of Broomall, had been arrested and charged with attempted murder and other offenses for his alleged involvement in an incident that happened at about 1:53 a.m. on Feb. 25.

Police say Chris Hall was not on their radar before this incident and they are now asking if there could be other victims out there that they don't know about yet.

At that time, officials said, officers were dispatched on a report of a stabbing at a home along the 200 block of Willow Avenue in the Wayne section of Radnor Township, to find a woman, who police have not identified, suffering from stab wounds.

Her teen daughter was also injured when she attempted to intervene in the attack at the home, police said.

According to the criminal complaint, the teen girl was woken up by footsteps and screams from her mother. When she went into her mother's room, she saw Hall on top of her mom, investigators said. The teen grabbed an object and began to hit Hall with it while screaming, "get off my mother," according to investigators. Hall then fled the scene, police said.

“The daughter calling for help and doing what she did, did a phenomenal job. She’s a juvenile so I can’t disclose much more but the family definitely stuck together and fought through the incident to stay alive," Radnor Township Police Superintendent Chris Flanagan said.

The woman and her daughter both identified Hall as the attacker when police arrived, according to investigators. A short time later, Haverford Township Police Department officers were dispatched to a crash along Sproul Road involving Hall's vehicle, officials said.

Hall allegedly fled the scene of the crash and was apprehended by police in Marple Township shortly afterward, according to court documents.

Court documents claim that Hall was found with blood on his sweatshirt and pants by officers after his arrest and a laceration was found on Hall's palm. Hall also told police he had an injury on his head due to the crash and he was treated for these injuries at a nearby hospital, court documents note.

The documents also note that officers found blood on Hall's underwear, but did not find a correlating wound on his body -- and he was not treated for such a wound at the hospital.

The woman and her daughter were both taken to a nearby hospital. The woman was listed in stable condition after undergoing surgery while her daughter was treated and released.

According to court documents, the victims knew Hall prior to the incident and police said there is no threat to the community.

The teen victim was left in the care of Hall and his wife on Feb. 17 as they celebrated their daughter's birthday.

The entire family was in a movie theater in King of Prussia when the girl says Hall indecently touched her multiple times.

The teen then told police that the touching continued as the group shopped and ate at the mall.

The teenager was supposed to spend the night at the Hall's house, but she called her mom to pick her up before telling her the next day about the assaults.

Police say they were not called by anyone in this case until Feb. 25 when the girl's mother was stabbed.

Hall was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, burglary, criminal trespass and related offenses.

His bail was set at $500,000 and, police said, he was able to make that cash bail last week.

These new charges now spark a bail review, so Hall remains in jail and is scheduled to go before a judge on Wednesday.

Broomall Fire Company said that Hall has been suspended as a volunteer member until further notice.

He has also been locked out of their building with no access, officials there told NBC10.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact Radnor Township Police Department at 610-688-5603.

“The investigation remains very active," Flanagan said. "There’s some questions we have about what happened and clearly we want to get all the facts before we make a final determination on everything that occurred.”

If you or someone you know may be a victim of Chris Hall, please call 911.