A suspect has been arrested in what appears to have been a deliberate act of attempted vehicular murder Tuesday evening in the South Bay. The FBI is currently working with the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety to determine a motive.
The incident happened around 6:40 p.m. at the intersection of El Camino Real and Sunnyvale Saratoga Road. Witnesses say that the driver of a dark-colored sedan turned into a group of eight people walking in the area while driving at full speed and made no effort to brake. The car then slammed into a nearby tree.
The victims range in age, and one of them is a 13-year-old girl. Some of the victims suffered serious injuries, but there are no fatalities at this time.
The Mercury News has several photos from the scene, including one of an injured bicyclist on the ground.
As ABC 7 reports, the driver of the car has been arrested, and Sunnyvale DPS believes the act may have been deliberate, but it is too early to say for sure.
According to Jim Choi, Chief of the Sunnyvale DPS, speaking to KPIX/CBS SF, "Some [of the victims] were in the crosswalk, some were at the corner of El Camino Real and Sunnyvale. And there’s no indication that the vehicle tried to avoid them."
UPDATE: 2- Sunnyvale PD confirms they have identified the #suspect from last night's #accident but won't release his info pending further #investigation. Full story: https://t.co/dDcX80herP#sunnyvale #southbay #bayarea #traffic #pedestrian #whereyoulive
— Anser Hassan (@AnserHassan) April 24, 2019
— Sunnyvale Scanners (@SNYscanner) April 24, 2019
The Mercury News reports, via Choi, that the driver was headed westbound on El Camino Real and hit several victims in the crosswalk at full speed, and then proceeded to hit others on the sidewalk before hitting the tree.
The Chronicle reports that while the driver has not yet been publicly identified, the car is registered to 34-year-old Sunnyvale resident Isaiah J. Peoples. According to DMV records, Peoples' registration was just revoked last week after he paid for it in March with a bad check.
The vicinity of El Camino Real and Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road is a bustling one, particularly during rush hour when this collision occurred, with multiple shopping centers along the thoroughfare.
As one local resident told ABC 7 from the scene, "People are just walking to get to these restaurants and food places and grocery stores, rather than getting in their car and driving there."
Choi further said to ABC 7 that this incident was especially unusual because "Sunnyvale is a very safe city."
