Driver slams into 8 Anaheim High runners — a ‘nightmare scenario,’ says one SoCal track coach
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- Eight Anaheim High School track athletes were injured after a car struck them at an intersection while they waited at a traffic light.
- A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
- Video showed multiple students bleeding on the ground after the orange sedan drove onto the sidewalk and struck a brick wall.
Eight students on the Anaheim High School track team were injured after a man suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs plowed into the group while they were on a practice run, authorities said.
The orange Toyota Corolla veered off the road and hit the students while they were waiting for a light to change at the southwestern corner of Harbor Boulevard and North Street in Anaheim around 2:55 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Anaheim Police Department.
Seven students were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. The runners were boys and girls ages 16 and 17 accompanied by their adult coach, police said.
The driver, identified Thursday as 27-year-old Anaheim resident Anthony Alva-Palafox, was also injured and taken to a hospital for treatment. He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, police said.
“Mr. Alva-Palafox displayed objective signs of intoxication, and investigators conducted a DUI investigation,” the department said in a news release. “There was probable cause to believe Mr. Alva-Palafox was operating a motor vehicle in an unsafe manner due to his level of intoxication.”
His level of intoxication will be determined through a blood analysis, police said. His vehicle was impounded and investigators are obtaining a search warrant to determine if there is any evidence inside.
Following the incident, Harbor and North were shut down for around four hours while police investigated, and school resource officers were at the scene, police said.
Video of the incident captured by OnScene.TV showed multiple students lying on the ground and bleeding near where an orange sedan had driven up the sidewalk and smashed into a low brick wall.
A surveillance camera recording from a local business shows the car driving down Harbor Boulevard before veering right and jumping the curb.
It is routine for high school distance runners to practice in neighborhoods around campuses, typically escorted by at least one adult to look out for dangers. But it can become dangerous when a pedestrian or driver loses concentration.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame track coach Joe McNab said collisions during practice are every running coach’s “nightmare scenario.”
In 2010, a 16-year-old Notre Dame distance runner, Conor Lynch, was struck by an SUV and killed near the school while trying to cross Woodman Avenue. Police said they believed Lynch might have been trying to catch up with a pack of runners when he was struck.
Leo Hernandez, track coach at Monroe High School in North Hills, said one of his cross-country runners was struck by a car in 2009. The runner survived. The driver was suspected of driving under the influence.
Hernandez still sends athletes out for practice runs with an adult runner supervising. With many runners needing to get 45 to 60 miles a week in preparation for competitions, they must train outside the school tracks, he said.
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