Motorist runs into pedestrians near Boise church
Oct 8, 2013, 4:27 PM
BOISE, Idaho (AP) – Family and friends of 68-year-old June Hobson of Boise were visiting outside a church after attending her funeral when a car accelerated into a crowd of people, injuring nine.
“Everything was calm and peaceful and then whoom! This car came out of nowhere,” Dee Cazier told KTVB-TV on Monday. “And I turn around and I look down the sidewalk and people were flying,” he said.
A 5-year-old boy was among those hit by the car, Brad Hobson, son of June Hobson, told the Idaho Statesman.
“He was under the vehicle, and both of his legs had broken,” Hobson said. The boy also had a head wound and was scheduled to undergo surgery Monday evening.
Hobson said Karen Darrington suffered a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain, while his sister, Kimberly Haddon, suffered a concussion and a broken thumb.
“It was pandemonium,” Hobson said. “Everybody was screaming. People were frantically trying to assess the situation.”
Between 50 and 70 people were outside the church when the car accelerated into the crowd.
Hobson said the driver was an 86-year-old friend of his mother who had been struggling to get the car into gear when it accelerated without warning.
“He was devastated from what happened,” Hobson said. “There was absolutely no ill-will, no way.”
Boise police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower said the crash was still being investigated.
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