Driver accused of hitting 8 pedestrians in California on purpose

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Authorities say eight people have been injured after a motorist appeared to deliberately plow into them in Northern California.

The Bay Area city’s Department of Public Safety says a 13-year-old boy and seven others were taken to the hospital Tuesday evening after the crash near a shopping center in Sunnyvale, more than an hour south of San Francisco.

There’s no word on their condition or a motive for the apparent attack.

The driver was taken into custody after the car smashed into a tree.

Witnesses say the man apparently made no effort to stop before hitting the pedestrians, reported KGO-TV .

Police Captain Jim Choi told the San Francisco Chronicle that the collision appears to have been deliberate.

“Some of the statements (from witnesses) show that the driver did not try to avoid the pedestrians at the cross walk, and there was no attempt to swerve, drive away or break,” he said.

Choi said people on the sidewalk as well as those crossing the street were hit. He said it appears the pedestrians had the walk signal when they started crossing the intersection.