Driver faces manslaughter charges in San Diego car crash that killed 3 people and injured 6 others

A driver drove through a homeless camp on the sidewalk in downtown San Diego on Monday, killing three people and injuring six others, authorities said. Craig Voss, 71, was walking through a tunnel under a community college campus when he drove his Volvo station wagon onto the sidewalk shortly after 9 a.m., said San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit .

Voss was arrested at the scene. He faces three counts of manslaughter, five counts of grievous bodily harm and a DUI felony, Nisleit said, adding that Voss had undergone a field sobriety test administered by an expert in drug recognition. He did not say or say whether Voss was under the influence of alcohol or any other substance. He said additional charges could come up.

It was not immediately clear if Voss had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.

Mayor Todd Gloria said most, if not all of the nine people struck were homeless.

“They were there because they felt like they had nowhere to go,” Gloria said. “This accident this morning was not to be so devastating. Let me say it very clearly, a street is not a house.”

Three people died at the scene. Five of the other six injured were taken to hospitals. Two were in critical condition. San Diego Fire Chief Colin Stowell said the two were “awake, alert and answering questions.”

Ronnie Williams told reporters he was among the last to be hit by the car, describing the incident as “a nightmare, like a really quick nightmare.” Williams said three of his friends were taken to hospital.

“The way he was riding the sidewalk, it was like he didn’t take his foot off the gas until he got across the street,” Williams said.

The sidewalk had tents on it. Nisleit said the homeless may have moved under the bridge to escape the rain just before the car passed.

“I don’t know if people were sleeping or if people were sitting there,” he said, adding that authorities scrambling for medical help would then turn to the answers to those questions.

The driver got out of his car and tried to help people before identifying himself with the police, Nisleit said.

“He was cooperative, (and) didn’t try to run away,” the chief said, correcting previous police reports that Voss had tried to run away.

Several ambulances, five fire trucks, a helicopter and more than 60 first responders rushed to the scene near San Diego City College where, on a typical weekday morning, it’s a bustling neighborhood with passing students. But the courses have been online in the middle of Coronavirus pandemic.

“Our crews obviously found a tragic incident below deck,” said San Diego Fire Department Chief Colin Stowell.

Lisa Brotzman said she was looking out of her tent window just as the car made a turn to the right shoulder, “spun out of control” and jumped onto the sidewalk into the tunnel where people were waiting. 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 fatal crash highlights the risks inherent in California’s homeless population, where homeless tents and tarps not only line downtown sidewalks, but are near ramps where cars accelerate at the entrance to highways. More than 150,000 people are homeless across the state. The number increased during the pandemic that rocked the economy.