Look out!
"Man jailed after car barrels down LA boardwalk; Woman killed, 11 others injured in hit-and-run" by Tami Abdollah | Associated Press, August 05, 2013
LOS ANGELES — The driver parked outside a hotel and surveyed the leisurely summer scene at the Venice Beach boardwalk: Hundreds of people were sitting at cafes, walking along the seashore, or shopping at vendors selling jewelry or art.
Then, according to surveillance video, the man got into a large black car, steered around a vehicle barrier and accelerated mercilessly through the crowd, hitting one person after another as bystanders tried desperately to get out of the way.
Saturday’s hit-and-run killed an Italian woman on her honeymoon and injured 11 others who had been enjoying an afternoon near the beach at the height of vacation season.
A couple of hours later, authorities arrested a man on suspicion of murder after he walked into a police station in neighboring Santa Monica and said he was involved.
Nathan Louis Campbell, 38, of Los Angeles, remained jailed Sunday in lieu of $1 million bail.
Police declined to discuss a motive but Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese said there was no indication that the attack was a terrorist act or that anyone else was involved.
By the time it was over, the driver had covered about a quarter of a mile along the boardwalk before fleeing.
Witnesses reported a horrifying aftermath. Louisa Hodge described ‘‘blocks and blocks of people just strewn across the sidewalk,’’ with many bloodied and disoriented....
At the scene, detectives searched for evidence across the boardwalk, which is in a part of Los Angeles known for eccentricities. The 1.5-mile ribbon of asphalt — which runs along the sand a few hundred yards from the ocean — is home to galleries, restaurants, tattoo shops, skateboard parks, and the famous outdoor weight room known as Muscle Beach. The boardwalk can draw as many as 150,000 people on summer weekends....
Los Angeles Councilman Mike Bonin said there have been previous problems with motorists accidentally driving onto the boardwalk, especially during the evening, because many entrances aren’t blocked and there are no signs warning them about entering a pedestrian area.
However, four yellow metal poles blocked the roadway used by the hit-and-run driver, who squeezed past the barrier by driving onto a sidewalk, authorities said.
‘‘The frightening part,’’ Bonin said, was that this part of the boardwalk was ‘‘one of the more protected streets.’’
The crash was not far from where an elderly driver sped through an open-air farmer’s market in Santa Monica in 2003, killing 10 people and injuring more than 70 others.
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"Former Colorado resident held in Calif. rampage" Associated Press, August 06, 2013
LOS ANGELES — A man who spent time in jail for shoplifting in Colorado was in custody Monday for investigation of running down a dozen people along the Venice Beach boardwalk, including an Italian tourist who was living her dream of honeymooning in California.
Little information was released about 38-year-old Nathan Louis Campbell, who was arrested for investigation of murder after he walked into a police station several hours after the rampage and said he was involved. He remained in custody in lieu of $1 million bail.
Court records showed Campbell was sentenced to five days in jail after pleading guilty to shoplifting at a Denver Pavilions in February 2009. Five months later, he was accused of trespassing at an outdoor mall in Denver and sentenced to 10 days in jail, the records show.
Campbell lived in Colorado at least as recently as last year. He was evicted from his apartment in Denver for not paying $655 in rent in March 2012, records show. California authorities said no one with his name and birth date had a state driver’s license.
Killed in Saturday’s rampage was Alice Gruppioni, 32, who was described by her family as a businesswoman and a romantic girl dreaming about her bridal gown and meeting Prince Charming.
‘‘She was robbed of her life while living her dream visit to California with her husband, and this was a tremendous injustice,’’ the family said in a statement.
The hit-and-run hurt 11 other people who moments earlier had been enjoying an afternoon of strolling and shopping along one of the top tourist attractions in Los Angeles.
Police have not yet presented their case to prosecutors, and they declined to discuss a possible motive.
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