Four people are dead and nine others have been injured after a truck was traveling on a bridge and veered off the road in San Diego, California, on Saturday afternoon, landing in a crowd, according to several reports.
California Highway Patrol Officer Jake Sanchez said the person driving the pickup truck, suspected of driving under the influence, hit a guard rail, rolled and landed on a crowd of people at Chicano Park, according to NBC 7.
“I saw that truck come flying off the ramp here and onto the people that were underneath them. I was that close to them,” one witness told NBC 7. “It’s terrible.”
The truck, which reportedly plunged 60 feet before crashing in the park, was driven was 24-year-old US Navy member Richard Anthony Sepolio, CHP told CBS 8. He has been charged with vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI causing injury or death and other charges related to significant injury of others, according to NBC 7. Sepolio suffered major trauma and is being treated for his injuries at UC San Diego Hospital, Sanchez said.
“It’s horrible,” Sanchez told reporters in a press conference. “Innocent people were down here having a good time — now, they’re gone.”
The names of the four killed in the crash have not been released, but the San Diego Union Tribune said they included a 62-year-old man and 50-year-old woman from Chandler, Arizona, and a 59-year-old man and 49-year-old woman from Hacienda Heights, California.
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Witnesses told the Tribune two of the victims were motorcyclists in La Raza Run — a festival that was taking place at the park — and the other two were tending a booth at the event.
“I saw the truck coming at me, and if I hadn’t run, I’d be dead,” Iris Jimenez, who said she was friends with the motorcyclists killed, told the Tribune.
California Highway Patrol was not available for immediate comment, but the City of Coronado shared several safety advisories on their Facebook and Twitter pages to inform local residents of the crash.
