Bystanders in San Diego chased down and tackled a man accused of driving a stolen Tesla through a crowded pedestrian boardwalk, striking a 25-year-old woman and leaving her with a fractured spine, broken ribs and a cut requiring 20 stitches.
Video captured the moment Juan Antonio Gonzaba, 39, allegedly fled the vehicle, which police told local media outlets had been stolen, and ran through a nearby parking lot. Bystander Alex Srour, who says he was sideswiped by the Tesla as it barreled down the boardwalk, chased Gonzaba and pushed him while running, sending him to the ground.
Srour, who recorded the incident on smart glasses he was wearing, described the moment the car came at him.
“I hear somebody behind me just scream like, ‘Watch out.’ And then I look and there’s like a Tesla just barreling at me going like 70 miles an hour,” Srour told KABC-TV.
He said the vehicle clipped his bike and knocked him aside.
“He hit my bike, and it like pushed me really, it like launched me off to the side. People don’t expect a car to come through the boardwalk like it’s just not normal,” Srour told KABC.
The San Diego Sheriff’s Office says Gonzaba has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, hit-and-run and auto theft. Prosecutors told KNSD-TV that the injured woman was hospitalized with serious injuries, including the fractured spine and broken ribs.
Gonzaba is being held without bail at San Diego Central Jail after prosecutors cited what they described as an extensive criminal history, according to KNSD. He pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that Gonzaba faces up to 24 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Fox News Digital reported that it had contacted the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego District Attorney’s Office for further comment.
