A driver passed a homeless sidewalk camp in downtown San Diego on Monday, killing three people and injuring six others, officials said. Craig Voss, 71, was passing through a tunnel under the campus of a community college when he drove his Volvo station wagon on the sidewalk shortly after 9 am, said San Diego police chief David Nisleit.
Voss was arrested on the spot. He faces three counts of vehicular homicide, five counts of causing major bodily harm and a DUI crime, said Nisleit, adding that Voss had been subjected to a sobriety test administered by a drug recognition specialist. He did not elaborate or identify whether Voss was under the influence of alcohol or any other substance. He said additional costs may be coming.
It was not immediately known whether Voss had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.
Mayor Todd Gloria said that most, if not all, of the nine people affected were homeless.
“They were there because they felt they had nowhere else to go,” said Gloria. “This accident this morning didn’t have to be so devastating. Let me say this very clearly, a street is not a home.”
Three people died at the scene. Five of the other six wounded were taken to hospitals. Two were in critical condition. San Diego fire chief Colin Stowell said they were both “awake, alert and answering questions”.
Gregory Bull / AP
Ronnie Williams told reporters that he was one of the last to be hit by the car, describing the incident as “a nightmare, like a really fast nightmare”. Williams said that three of his friends were taken to a hospital.
“The way he was walking on the sidewalk, it was like he didn’t take his foot off the gas until he got to the other side of the street,” said Williams.
The sidewalk had tents. Nisleit said the homeless may have passed under the bridge to escape the rain just before the car passed.
“I don’t know if people were sleeping or sitting there,” he said, adding that officials struggling to get medical help for people would turn to find the answers to those questions.
The driver got out of the car and tried to help people before identifying himself to the police, Nisleit said.
“He cooperated (and) did not try to escape,” said the chief, correcting previous police reports that Voss had tried to escape.
Several ambulances, five fire engines, a helicopter and more than 60 rescuers rushed to the scene near San Diego City College, where on a typical weekday morning it is a busy area with students passing by. But classes are online amid coronavirus pandemic.
“Our teams have obviously encountered a tragic incident under the bridge,” said San Diego Fire Department chief Colin Stowell.
Lisa Brotzman said she was peeking out of her tent window when the car swerved to the right shoulder, “spun out of control” and jumped onto the tunnel sidewalk where people waited in the rain.
“Someone was shouting, ‘Ahhh! Ahhhh!'” Brotzman told The San Diego Union-Tribune. “Two or three people were screaming and screaming. It was scary.”
The deadly accident highlights the risks inherent in the homeless population in California, where the homeless’s tents and tarpaulins line up not only on downtown sidewalks, but close to ramps where cars speed up when entering highways. More than 150,000 people are homeless across the state. The number increased during the pandemic that affected the economy.