Man drives car into pedestrians at grocery store in California mountain town, injuring 4

Police mentioned they imagine the person, who’s from the San Joaquin Valley metropolis of Coalinga, deliberately struck the pedestrians and the store. Scotty Mathewson, 39, mentioned he was buying together with his spouse when he heard the crash and frantic screaming.

Whereas his spouse known as 911, Mathewson helped others be certain nobody was trapped underneath rubble or the pickup. He mentioned a boy’s baseball workforce was elevating cash at a desk in entrance of the store, and as he ran to assist, mother and father had been desperately making an attempt to reunite with their children.

“We see issues in the information, and we watch issues on YouTube or TV and stuff, however it’s all eliminated,” he mentioned. “No less than for me, that is the primary time that it’s palpable.” Mathewson additionally mentioned pedestrians and buyers screamed at the motive force and tried to open the car, however its doorways had been locked. He added that the motive force was “calmly sitting in there” till police arrived and detained him minutes later.

The 49-year-old driver was booked on fees associated to assault with a lethal weapon, felony vandalism and probation violation. He was jailed in a facility in Nevada Metropolis, which is the seat of Nevada County and is about an hour’s drive from Truckee on the opposite aspect of a 7,000-foot mountain go. There was no public contact or legal professional listed but for the motive force as of Saturday night.

Truckee, which is dwelling to about 17,000 residents, is understood for its pristine winter magnificence and proximity to Lake Tahoe and Donner Lake. February is usually a busy month there for winter sports activities together with snowboarding, snowboarding and snowshoeing.