San Diego police are asking for witnesses to come forward with any and all videos of a controversial crash that took place during a Comic-Con Zombie Walk event last month.
On Wednesday, the San Diego Police Department said it was seeking the public’s assistance in obtaining additional videos of the incident, which happened on July 26 at the intersection of 2nd and Island avenues in downtown San Diego.
The department wants witnesses to submit those videos to police by calling (619) 531-2000 and referring the code word, “Info-T.”
On the evening of the incident, amid San Diego Comic-Con events all over the downtown area, a 48-year-old deaf driver struck a 64-year-old woman with his black Honda Accord.
The whole incident was captured on cellphone video by several witnesses.
According to police, the driver – accompanied by his girlfriend and two children – was stopped at the intersection, waiting for participants of the Zombie Walk to cross.
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As the costumed group was walking, video from witnesses showed the driver’s car suddenly moved forward, rolling through the crowd.
According to the SDPD, the driver was frightened by the group in zombie costumes and was attempting to get out of the area when the collision occurred. Police said the crowd punched and shattered the driver’s window, fueling his fear.
In an interview with iDeaf News earlier this month, the driver admitted he panicked.
He described the unfortunate incident as a total “blur.”
Witnesses, however, have very different accounts of what happened on the street.
One witness claimed the driver took off with such aggression that “his tired squealed.” Another witness said the driver’s window was broken after he hit people in the crowd, not before.
According to the Twitter page for the SDZombieWalk, participants of the event had nothing to do with the incident. The woman who was most seriously injured in the crash was not a participant of the walk, but rather a passerby.
The incident remains under investigation and the driver has not been cited. The SDPD plans to interview any additional witnesses who come forward with new video of the incident.
The driver's attorney, Dan Gilleon, gave this statement to NBC 7 Wednesday night:
"I find it disheartening that the SDPD is still trying desperately to conjure up a case against my client in a corrupt attempt to deflect blame for the Chief of Police sponsoring an unpermitted parade that caused the various assaults that took place."
