A hit-and-run driver suspected of being under the influence of alcohol slammed into a row of cars parked at an apartment complex in San Marcos overnight, damaging 11 vehicles, deputies confirmed.
Just before 2 a.m., residents of the complex at 697 south Twin Oaks Road began calling 911 to report the incident.
Some witnesses who heard the initial crash pulled out their phones to record the driver plowing into the second car, then the third and fourth.
“I was in my room, and I heard a loud crash outside the window. And there was a driver driving into a car that was parked. I was like, ‘Oh my God!’” witness Connor Rittershofer explained.
After hitting nearly a dozen cars at the complex, the driver, now identified by officials as David Lopez, 33, took off. He abandoned the car and walked away from the crash site.
A short time later, deputies found Lopez in a nearby parking lot where they arrested him.
He was booked into the Vista Detention Facility and is scheduled to appear in court Monday. Officials said Lopez is facing 11 counts of misdemeanor hit-and-run, as well as driving under the influence of alcohol.
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The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said no one was hurt in the hit-and-run crashes.
Rittershofer was among those who called 911. He said he saw the driver hit three to four cars and then drive down the road and hit four to five more.
“[It sounded like] super loud bangs and a lot of tires screeching," he said. "He was like, hitting into a car for a while, and kept trying to drive but he couldn’t because there was a car in the way. And he kept backing up and going right back into the cars.”
Rittershofer said he didn't expect the driver to just keep going.
"That was kind of crazy to me," he added.
Rittershofer's car wasn't among those damaged by the hit-and-run driver. His car was parked about 10 cars away from the scene. He said he felt bad for his neighbors whose cars were damaged.
"It's a really sucky situation," he lamented.
Resident John Renfroe wasn't so lucky.
His car was hit, and Renfroe said the incident was frustrating to wake up to.
"They're just careless," he said. "That shouldn't happen."
Renfroe said he also heard the crash outside his window and, when he looked outside, he saw a few cars had been damaged.
When he got closer, he realized his car was in that row of unlucky ones.
Renfroe planned to speak with deputies, file a report and call his insurance. Looking on the bright side, he was grateful no one was hurt.
