Truck Jumps Curb, Critically Injures 2 Women In Anaheim
ANAHEIM (CBSLA) – Two women were critically injured when a pickup truck careened into them as they were taking part in 4th of July celebrations Sunday night.
The collision occurred at 9:39 p.m. in the 200 block of North Grand Avenue.
According to Anaheim police, the suspect was driving erratically when his pickup truck jumped a curb and slammed into two women, ages 44 and 22, who were with a gathering of people.
The father and husband of the victims asked that his identity not be revealed, but did speak to CBSLA about what he witnessed.
"You know, he was revving it and doing it burn outs and the back end got squirrely. He didn't have a chance to break, lost control and just slammed into us."
Other witnesses said they were just sitting in lawn chairs when they heard the revving noises. Rick Torres said some of the people gathered heard someone burning rubber.
"And he just lost control," Edwin Rosales, another witness added. "The tire caught and he went straight to the people that were actually right here. Boom."
Felicia Canales, the driver's mother lives across the street from the scene and said she saw the whole thing. She insists that the entire incident was an accident.
"He wasn't doing donuts. He wasn't doing, you know, burn outs or anything to that nature," Canales said, adding that she believes the truck suffered a broken axle.
"I just want to say he's very remorseful. He's broken up over the situation. All he can say is, 'It was an accident, I didn't mean to do this,'" she said.
The driver remained at the scene.
"He was evaluated by a drug recognition expert to see if he was under the influence of drugs or narcotics. That determined not to be the case," Sgt. Jacob Gallagher with the Anaheim Police Department said.
The driver was not arrested. Both victims were rushed to hospitals in critical condition. They were not identified.
"It was a freak accident, you know. I'm not mad at him," the father said.
Police said that an ongoing investigation will determine if there will be any charges filed in this case, and are also asking anyone with video of the incident to share it with detectives.