The 71-year-old driver of the Volvo station wagon tried to help and introduced himself to authorities. San Diego Police Chief David Nislitt told a news conference he had been detained and was being searched for driving while vulnerable.
The driver was cooperative and did not attempt to leave the area, the chief said. Officials had earlier said the driver fled the scene before being apprehended.
The fire chief said three people died on the spot, and the police chief said at least two people who were taken to hospital were in critical condition.
The tragedy happened mostly in the downtown tunnel below the underpass where Chief Nislit says many people were seeking refuge from the rain.
“I don’t know if people were asleep, if people were sitting there,” Nislit said. He did not call the area a homeless camp but said it looked like several tents and personal belongings had been set up along the sidewalk.
Police received a radio call about a vehicle that matched Volvo’s description several minutes before the crash, but Nislit said officers were not following him at the time of the incident.
He said the car “for whatever reason, it stuck to the right and drove perfectly over the sidewalk.” The vehicle veered off the road where it stopped and the driver got out, Nislet said.
The incident happened just after 9 a.m. in the 1500 block of B Street near San Diego City College.
“I’m like Hoha! Will this guy ever stop?” Williams said the driver got out of his car and hid his face and “walked away accidentally.”
Another witness, Michael Luke, told KGTV that the driver had been at the scene and was bored.
“I saw the wagon move forward and things just started popping up … and pulling … horrible,” Luke said.
The investigation is ongoing.
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