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Truck plunges off San Diego bridge, killing 4 in crowd below

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Police cover the bodies of people that were killed when a pickup truck landed on them after it flew off a ramp to the San Diego Coronado Bridge as paramedics prepare to put an injured man on a gurney, background, at Chicano Park in San Diego on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. Four people were killed and nine were injured on Saturday after an out-of-control pickup truck plunged off the San Diego-Coronado Bridge and plowed into crowd gathered at a festival below, authorities said.

San Diego » A member of the U.S. Navy was arrested after the pickup truck he was driving plunged off a San Diego bridge, killing four people and injuring nine at a festival below, authorities said.

Authorities identified the driver as Richard Anthony Sepolio, 25, who was stationed at the naval base on Coronado Island across the bay from San Diego. His rank or job description was not immediately available.

Sepolio was alone in the truck Saturday afternoon when he lost control and it struck a guardrail and fell 60 feet onto a vendor’s booth at Chicano Park, California Highway Patrol Officer Jake Sanchez said. He was taken to the hospital with major injuries and was later arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs causing deaths and injuries, the officer said. It wasn’t immediately known when Sepolio would be arraigned.

“It’s horrible. It’s horrific. We had innocent people down here having a good time and now they’re gone,” Sanchez said.

The California Highway Patrol identified the deceased as a 62-year-old man and 50-year-old woman from Chandler, Arizona, and a 59-year-old man and 49-year-old woman from Hacienda Heights, a suburb east of Los Angeles. Authorities did not immediately release their names.

Eight people on the ground were injured. One suffered major trauma and seven others had minor to moderate injuries, said Lee Swanson, a spokesman for the city’s Fire-Rescue Department.

Witnesses said the GMC pickup truck with Texas license plates landed on a vendor’s booth set up for La Raza Run, a motorcycle ride that ends with a celebration at the park and typically draws hundreds of participants. The crash steps away from a stage where a rockabilly band was playing.

“I saw a truck come right off the freeway. It was going so fast it flew over the stage and landed in front of the stage on a tent, a booth that was set up,” Chase Dameron told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

He said four people in the booth were crushed by the truck.

“It was like a movie. It was like in slow motion,” Dameron said. “Where it hit, there was dust and debris and instant chaos and panic. People running crazy.”

Another witness said the truck hit the front end, bounced and landed on its side.

Photos from the scene show the truck’s front end crumpled and its hood popped open.

The park is located beneath the bridge in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in central San Diego.

4 responses to “Truck plunges off San Diego bridge, killing 4 in crowd below”

  1. cojef says:

    A man made disaster that need not have happened, then again? Condolences to the families of the deceased.

  2. wrightj says:

    Schnockered again.

  3. Carang_da_buggahz says:

    “The park is located beneath the bridge in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in central San Diego.” Chicano Park, La Raza Run. Gee, ‘ya think?

  4. paniolo says:

    My deepest ALOHA to their ohana. Hope the injured recover soon. As usual, the DUI driver lives.

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