Driver hits 3 children on sidewalk near California school

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A man who had been kicked off a Southern California elementary school campus drove a car onto a curb and struck three children who were walking to school, police said Monday.

The children were hospitalized in stable condition and Jason Guzman, 26, of Valencia was arrested, Santa Ana police said.

Four incendiary devices were found in the man’s car, police said.

The man had trespassed at Taft Elementary School, apparently asking to use a restroom, and was escorted off campus at around 8 a.m., police said.

A short time later, the man drove onto the curb a few blocks from school, hitting three children who were walking to school, authorities said.

The car then continued rolling and hit a parked car before police took the driver into custody, Sgt. Maria Lopez said.

The driver had what appeared to be a self-inflicted stab wound and was taken for treatment, Lopez said.

Isaias Vazquez, who lives nearby, ran to help the children.

“One’s in the middle of the street just laying down motionless,” Vazquez told KTLA-TV. “As I go to tend to them, parents are… just distraught, screaming, and I see an individual walking towards us with a knife in his hand so immediately I called the cops.”

The driver, who appeared to be disoriented, then turned around and walked back towards the car, where he left the knife, Vazquez said.

Two of the children “were OK, just in shock,” Vazquez said. “And then after a while, the one that was laying on the street motionless, she regained consciousness, was moving, thankfully, and was better but in a lot of pain.”

The school was locked down for three hours while police searched the school to make sure it was safe. Classes then resumed, authorities said.

Investigators will try to determine whether the driver intended to hit the children and whether he had any connection to the school, Lopez said.