Anthony
Super Moderator
LOS ANGELES. Police arrested Nathan Campbell, 38 on suspicion of murder after a driver took his vehicle and drove on a popular Los Angeles boardwalk. A seemingly intentional hit-and-run killed Alice Gruppioni, an Italian woman on her honeymoon and 16 people were injured.
The police arrested the suspect Nathan Campbell after he left his vehicle on a Santa Monica street and voluntarily walked in a police station a couple of hours after the incident and told the police that he was involved with the accident. Authorities said when the suspect turned himself he asked how many people were injured.
Campbell, a Colorado native who authorites said was possibly living in his blue Dodge Avenger, was later booked on suspicion of murder and is being held on $1.48 million bail.
He is being charged with murder and 16 counts of assault with a deadly weapon and 17 counts of hit-and-run. If he convicted, Nathan Louis Campbell could face life in prison.
When reporters questioned Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese, he declined to answer questions about motive, however he said there was no evidence that the attack was a terrorist act or that anybody else was involved.
Campbell appeared in court on Tuesday and had pleaded not guilty.
His lawyer, public defender Philip Dube called it "a horrible accident".
Dube also said, "I don't believe he intentionally tried to hit anybody" "He is profoundly sad, he is profoundly depressed, that he has potentially ended somebody's life. He is very fragile. He is very frail right now."
Alice Gruppioni, 32, an Italian tourist who was killed. She was on her honeymoon with her husband Christian Casadei, also from Italy.
Three people were serioulsy injured and the others suffered minor injuries during this horrible incident. Some were either released or being treated at other hospitals in the area.
According to a security video and witnesses, the suspect parked his car next to the Cadillac Hotel and walked out to the boardwalk two times then he got into his Dodge Avenger and drove around yellow poles that were meant to stop vehicles from getting into the pedestrian only area and onto the boardwalk.
“I heard a big ‘boom, boom,’ like the sound of someone going up and down the curb, it was super loud,†said Alex Hagan, 22, an employee at the Cadillac Hotel.
Witnesses told reporters it was a horrifying scene. It looked like it was a scene right out of a movie. One witness said she was scared for her life. Another witness said he saw the driver of the car swerving from side to side going after pedestrians. People were “stumbling around, blood dripping down their legs, looking confused not knowing what had happened, people screaming,†said Louisa Hodge, who described “blocks and blocks of people just strewn across the sidewalk.â€
“There were thousands of people in the promenade,†said John Drolette, who watched it all from the second story balcony of the Cadillac Hotel. “He was zigzagging; he did it on purpose.â€
Another witness said she saw two people lying on the boardwalk. "They were just laying next to each other and grasping hands," Hodge said, "just a man and a woman holding hands."
Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council approved to immediately erect barriers at the intersections along the boardwalk.
Venice locals said more barriers would be helpful to keep motorists entering the boardwalk. "A few times a year cars accidentally turn onto the boardwalk", said Michael Aulberry, a resident for 35 years.
The police arrested the suspect Nathan Campbell after he left his vehicle on a Santa Monica street and voluntarily walked in a police station a couple of hours after the incident and told the police that he was involved with the accident. Authorities said when the suspect turned himself he asked how many people were injured.
Campbell, a Colorado native who authorites said was possibly living in his blue Dodge Avenger, was later booked on suspicion of murder and is being held on $1.48 million bail.
He is being charged with murder and 16 counts of assault with a deadly weapon and 17 counts of hit-and-run. If he convicted, Nathan Louis Campbell could face life in prison.
When reporters questioned Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese, he declined to answer questions about motive, however he said there was no evidence that the attack was a terrorist act or that anybody else was involved.
Campbell appeared in court on Tuesday and had pleaded not guilty.
His lawyer, public defender Philip Dube called it "a horrible accident".
Dube also said, "I don't believe he intentionally tried to hit anybody" "He is profoundly sad, he is profoundly depressed, that he has potentially ended somebody's life. He is very fragile. He is very frail right now."
Alice Gruppioni, 32, an Italian tourist who was killed. She was on her honeymoon with her husband Christian Casadei, also from Italy.
Three people were serioulsy injured and the others suffered minor injuries during this horrible incident. Some were either released or being treated at other hospitals in the area.
According to a security video and witnesses, the suspect parked his car next to the Cadillac Hotel and walked out to the boardwalk two times then he got into his Dodge Avenger and drove around yellow poles that were meant to stop vehicles from getting into the pedestrian only area and onto the boardwalk.
“I heard a big ‘boom, boom,’ like the sound of someone going up and down the curb, it was super loud,†said Alex Hagan, 22, an employee at the Cadillac Hotel.
Witnesses told reporters it was a horrifying scene. It looked like it was a scene right out of a movie. One witness said she was scared for her life. Another witness said he saw the driver of the car swerving from side to side going after pedestrians. People were “stumbling around, blood dripping down their legs, looking confused not knowing what had happened, people screaming,†said Louisa Hodge, who described “blocks and blocks of people just strewn across the sidewalk.â€
“There were thousands of people in the promenade,†said John Drolette, who watched it all from the second story balcony of the Cadillac Hotel. “He was zigzagging; he did it on purpose.â€
Another witness said she saw two people lying on the boardwalk. "They were just laying next to each other and grasping hands," Hodge said, "just a man and a woman holding hands."
Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council approved to immediately erect barriers at the intersections along the boardwalk.
Venice locals said more barriers would be helpful to keep motorists entering the boardwalk. "A few times a year cars accidentally turn onto the boardwalk", said Michael Aulberry, a resident for 35 years.