Police: Woman runs down husband outside Calif. court, jumps to her death
MARTINEZ, Calif. -- A woman ran over her estranged husband and two of his friends as the trio left a family court Monday and then jumped to her death off a bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area, police said.
Several witnesses saw the woman speed up and hit the three people outside a Martinez courthouse. She was reversing the car when she hit a female victim a second time, Martinez Police Cmdr. Eric Ghisletta said. The three were taken to a hospital with moderate injuries.
The woman, who had been in court with her husband, then fled the scene and minutes later jumped off the Benicia Bridge, Ghisletta said. She was not immediately identified, pending notification of her family.
Bystanders tried breaking the driver-side window of the car to stop the woman from leaving the scene, CBS San Francisco reported. Before the incident, another driver said the woman hit his car and caused him to hit another car.
“Something hit me from behind and I lost control,” said Wilfredo Manuntag. “Hit the car in front of me, and the guy in front of me hit the car in front of him.”
The U.S. Coast Guard found the body of a woman in the water under the bridge after police received a call of a person jumping off. The vehicle matching the description of the one used to hit the pedestrians was found on the bridge near where the woman jumped, Ghisletta said.
“Based on all indications, it appears it could be the same woman,” he said.
The East Bay Times reported bystanders tried breaking the driver’s-side window on the woman’s car after the collision, but a witness said she sped out of the area. Witness Christina Parson, 30, who was pushing her friend’s baby stroller across a nearby crosswalk when the collision happened, said there was no question about the woman’s intent.
“It was deliberate. You can tell it was,” said Parson, who was helping her friend with a property dispute in court Monday. “An officer came running out of the courthouse, and I screamed for him to get help.”
