DRIVER PLOWS INTO CROWD AFTER BRAKE, GAS MIXUP

PARMA HEIGHTS, OHIO The 74-year-old driver of a car that slammed into a crowd at an outdoor community concert in Ohio injuring nine people, two of them seriously, confused the brake with the gas pedal, police said.

The woman drove onto a small dance floor Sunday night in the parking lot at Greenbrier Commons in Parma Heights, about 15 kilometres south of Cleveland, said Det.-Sgt. Steve Scharschmidt.

The incident happened during a Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin tribute concert, part of a series of outdoor shows. It was the last one scheduled for the summer, and more than 100 people were in attendance.

Scharschmidt said the unidentified Parma Heights woman was leaving the concert when she accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake as she was pulling out of her parking space.

He said she drove onto the dance floor, hitting eight people. She then struck a telephone pole and a car as she tried to correct herself.

Six were taken to area hospitals, two of them with serious injuries. Three others, including the driver, were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

Scharschmidt said he believed the victims are all in their 50s, 60s or 70s.

Charges against the woman have not been filed. Scharschmidt said that’s something they’ll “certainly review.”