Woman Struck by Car During San Diego ZombieWalk Chaos
A 64-year-old woman was struck by a car on Saturday night in San Diego during the city's annual ZombieWalk. Police say the driver was a deaf man trying to escape the faux-zombie horde with his deaf children in the backseat.
The SDPD told NBC San Diego that the driver, in a black Honda Accord, waited for ZombieWalk participants to cross for several minutes before slowly rolling forward, frightened, in attempt to get out of the crowd. According to police, when the car began to roll forward, several people from the crowd began pounding on it, shattering the car's windshield.
As he drove through the crowd, the driver hit a 64-year-old woman—who was not participating in the ZombieWalk—with the side of his car. The woman was hospitalized with a serious, but not life-threatening, arm injury. Several videos of the incident have made it to YouTube:
Officials report the driver of the vehicle then drove to a police officer who was located down the street.
Witnesses of the incident, though, tell a slightly different story. Witness Sean Foley told NBC San Diego that the driver began honking when he was stuck with several other vehicles behind the crowd:
When he started inching forward, a parade watcher sat on his hood, Foley said. As the driver continued to accelerate, others stood in front of the car.
"People began shouting for him to stop so as not to run through a parade that included [sic] children and babies in strollers at which point he floored his car through the crowd," Foley wrote in an email.
Foley continued, claiming the driver's windshield was only broken after he drove into the crowd:
"The only reason he was surrounded by a crowd who was angry was because he was pushing his car through a crowd that was trying to watch the parade."
It is worth noting that guidelines on the official ZombieWalk site state, "Do not block foot or auto traffic, as it is a safety risk and can also be illegal depending on the situation."
Another witness named Diana Jackson told NBC San Diego that the driver took off so aggressively that "his tires squealed."
According to The Wrap, the SDPD traffic division is investigating and no arrests have been made.