Driver charged with attempted murder for hitting children
SANTA ANA » A man who drove onto a Southern California sidewalk and hit three children walking to school has been charged with premeditated attempted murder, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Jason Carlos Guzman, 26, of Valencia remained hospitalized with a self-inflicted stab wound to his abdomen, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Guzman’s condition wasn’t immediately released and it wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Guzman, who had a 2017 conviction for assault with force likely to commit great bodily injury, went to Taft Elementary School in Santa Ana at around 8 a.m. Monday and told a staff member that he was going to use the bathroom, prosecutors said.
The staffer told him to leave. His Mazda crashed into a barrier in the school parking lot as he drove away, prosecutors said.
A couple of blocks away, the car accelerated, ran onto a sidewalk and hit a group of children walking to Taft, prosecutors said.
An 11-year-old girl, a 9-year-old girl, and a 6— year-old girl were struck and flew into the air, according to the district attorney’s statement.
Guzman brandished a knife at a woman who saw the crash, and while driving away his car struck an SUV with a woman and her 11-year-old daughter inside, authorities said. No one was seriously injured.
After Guzman’s arrest, investigators said they found containers of flammable liquid in his car.
Authorities haven’t released a motive in the case or said whether drugs or alcohol may have been involved.
Guzman is charged with seven counts of premeditated attempted murder, seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon, three counts of hit-and-run with injury, and three counts of child abuse, prosecutors said.
He also is charged with a felony count of possession of a flammable liquid, a misdemeanor count of brandishing a deadly weapon, and a misdemeanor count of hit-and-run with property damage.
If convicted of all charges, he could face 49 years to life in prison.
“The actions of a single individual have resulted in undue trauma to the victims he hit as well as countless children, parents, and school staff,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the statement.