Four hurt, including kids, as 49-year old ‘intentionally’ rams car into pedestrians outside grocery store in California

Four people, including some children, were hurt when the 49-year-old man drove into the front of the Truckee Safeway in the afternoon, town police said in a statement.

The incident took place at the entrance of a grocery store in the scenic California mountain town on Saturday, police were quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

The grocery store is located about a mile east of downtown Truckee, in a shopping strip on Donner Pass Road.

Police said they believe the man, who is from the San Joaquin Valley city of Coalinga, intentionally struck the pedestrians and the store.

According to San Francisco Chronicle, officers from the Truckee Police Department responded to a report of a “vehicle colliding into multiple pedestrians near the front entrance of Safeway."

In a video obtained by CBS Sacramento, a vehicle was seen crashing into the Safeway building.

Eyewitness account

Scotty Mathewson, 39, said he was shopping with his wife when he heard the crash and frantic screaming, AP reported.

While his wife called 911, Mathewson helped others ensure no one was trapped under the rubble or the pickup.

Mathewson told AP that a boy’s baseball team was raising money at a table in front of the store, and as he ran to help, parents were desperately trying to reunite with their kids.

Mathewson also said pedestrians and shoppers screamed at the driver and tried to open the vehicle, but its doors were locked.

He added that the driver was “calmly sitting in there” until police arrived and detained him minutes later.

Driver booked

The 49-year-old driver was booked on charges related to assault with a deadly weapon, felony vandalism and probation violation.

He was jailed in a facility in Nevada City, which is the seat of Nevada County and is about an hour's drive from Truckee on the other side of a 7,000-foot mountain pass.

He was booked into the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility in Nevada City on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, felony vandalism and “violation of his post-release community supervision terms,” authorities told CBS News.

Officials did not provide additional details about the terms of his supervision or why he was subject to them.

There was no public contact or attorney listed yet for the driver as of Saturday evening.

Truckee, which is home to about 17,000 residents, is known for its pristine winter beauty and proximity to Lake Tahoe and Donner Lake.

February is typically a busy month there for winter sports including skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing.