Update: Local ABC News reports that “Investigators said alcohol intoxication played a role in the collision. This crash remains under investigation.”
“The driver, identified only as a 72-year-old man, was quickly taken into custody after the crash.”
Original story follows:
Spectators at the Bakersfield Christmas Parade in California were injured when a man drove his Ford F-150 pickup into them as the annual event was about to begin.
According to the Bakersfield Police Department, first responders were dispatched to the site of the parade at approximately 5:30 pm after reports of multiple people being struck by a truck at 21st and H streets.
Police asked the public to avoid the area in a statement writing, “BPD is conducting an investigation at H St and 21st St which is affecting the original parade route. The Parade Marshall is working to see if rerouting the parade is an option. There is no threat to public safety.”
In a video from the scene posted to social media, a woman at the event narrated, “Sad situation happened tonight right before the Christmas parade was about to start. Three people were injured and were transported to the hospital.”
The video shifts to show the truck on the sidewalk as the woman continues, “This truck right here that you see was coming through this alleyway and had struck the pedestrians that were sitting waiting for the parade…”
She continued, “We’re hearing from multiple people that the driver of this pickup truck was possibly intoxicated and kind of disoriented and belligerent. We were hearing that he was trying to fight officers as they were trying to detain him, he was trying to flee the scene.
According to KGET Bakersfield, three people were injured and the driver of the vehicle was arrested.
Parade organizers said that the event which was scheduled to start at 7 pm local time would continue but would be rerouted.
This is a developing story.