3 dead after driver hops sidewalk in San Diego, suspect in custody, police say

SAN DIEGO — Three people died Monday morning after a driver plowed through a crowd gathered on a sidewalk in downtown San Diego, according to police.

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The driver, identified only as a 71-year-old man, was apprehended after authorities started to receive 911 calls about the incident around 9 a.m. local time. Authorities found three people dead at the scene of the crash, which happened in a tunnel under San Diego City College that is often lined with tents used by homeless people, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Police Chief David Nisleit told the newspaper that the victims appeared to be homeless.

“I don’t know if people were sleeping (or) if people were sitting” on the sidewalk at the time of the crash, Nisleit said, though he noted that homeless people might have moved under the bridge because of rainy weather.

At least six other people were injured in the crash, including two people who suffered injuries described as critical.

“We know the vehicle was westbound on B Street,” Nisleit said. “For whatever reason, it veered to the right, went completely up onto the sidewalk, struck multiple pedestrians and then came back onto the roadway.”

Police arrested the driver after he identified himself, Nisleit said. Witnesses told authorities that he got out of the Volvo station wagon he had been driving to try to render aid after the crash.

Initially, police said the driver had tried to flee after the crash, The Associated Press reported. However, Nisleit later said that the driver was “cooperative.”

Investigators are looking into the possibility that the driver might have been intoxicated at the time of the collision.

“I can confirm that several minutes prior (to the crash), we did get a radio call about a vehicle that matched the description of the vehicle that’s here at the scene,” Nisleit said. Later, he added that the person who called authorities “was concerned about this person’s possible impairment.”

Authorities continue to investigate.

Cox Media Group