Police suspect drug use in Calif. Walmart crash
Apr 1, 2013, 11:06 PM
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Police said Monday they suspect a man was on drugs when he rammed his car through the front of a California Walmart store and began assaulting customers, injuring four people.
Haamid Ade Zaid, 33, of Seaside, was being held without bail at the Santa Clara County Jail for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon, hit and run, being under the influence of drugs, and resisting arrest, San Jose Police Officer Albert Morales said.
“In my 18-year career I have never seen anything like this,” Morales told the San Jose Mercury News. “After looking at some of the pictures, it’s amazing he didn’t hit anybody with the vehicle.”
The store was open for business Monday. It had closed for about five hours Sunday after the incident, said Ashley Hardie, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Grief counselors were expected to be onsite for employees this week, Hardie added.
Zaid was arrested Sunday after a red Oldsmobile Cutlass crashed through the San Jose storefront and hit a beer display before stopping near the pharmacy.
The driver got out of the car with a blunt object and began attacking people, police said. No motive has been determined.
About 70 people were inside the store, near the scene of the crash. One suffered serious injuries.
Morales did not know the extent of the injuries to the other three people but said they were not life-threatening. A store employee was among those injured.
Shopper and witness Tianna Doan said the injured employee was a cashier who was hit with the blunt object and had a head injury.
Two other vehicles were struck in the parking lot before the Oldsmobile crashed into the store.
Sharon Kaye told the Mercury News the driver sideswiped her car as he made several runs around the parking lot before driving between poles at the entrance of the store.
“At first, I thought I may have done something to anger him while driving,” she said. “But then I realized he was out to get into the store.”
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