SUNNYVALE, CA — A man who deliberately rammed his car into a crowd of pedestrians in a Sunnyvale crosswalk deliberately targeted Muslims and Indians and was facing hate crime charges Friday, the District Attorney announced .
Last month’s attack on El Camino Real injured several people, including a 13-year-old girl who was in critical condition.
Prosecutors added two hate crime allegations Thursday based on evidence that 34-year-old Isaiah Peoples targeted two of the people in the crowd because he thought they were Muslim and/or Indian.
Defendants may qualify for hate crime allegations when they target a person or group due to their disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. The label is placed on charges in aggravation.
Peoples, who was previously charged with eight counts of attempted murder, faces life in prison if convicted.
“Prejudice is not harmless. Someone’s child is in critical condition today because of someone’s ignorance and hatred. So today, we stand with her and her family, and all of our Muslim and Indian neighbors. We will be steadfast in our work to hold this person criminally responsible for the pain and destruction his abhorrent act has caused the eight people he struck, and our entire community,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said.
The defendant crashed his car into a tree after the alleged attack near the Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road intersection and was apparently heard by witnesses uttering phrases with religious overtones. He was taken into custody by Sunnyvale officers soon afterward.
A week later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced it had launched a hate crime probe into the incident.
Sunnyvale Police obtained evidence to back the claim the former Army veteran from Sunnyvale may have acted in hate.
Jay Boyarsky, chief assistant district attorney in Santa Clara County, has called the targeting of the victims based on their race or religion as “disturbing and appalling.”
The gruesome crash called in about 6:30 p.m. April 23 occurred on El Camino Real, shutting down traffic and shocking bystanders who watched in horror. According to a police report, Peoples had just picked up food and was taking it to a bible study group when he drove his black sedan into the crowd.
The war veteran was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 2006, Sunnyvale public safety officials confirmed. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserve. A disassembled shotgun was found in his trunk. At the time, Sunnyvale Police Chief Phan Ngo mentioned it was the only weapon in his possession.
Peoples’ attorney Chuck Smith had referred to the act weeks ago as some type of “mental disorder or mental defect,” disputing that the defendant drove into the victims intentionally.
Still, the Sunnyvale police department stands by its stern suggestion that Peoples appeared to be “motivated by race.”
Hate crimes have risen in California. According to the latest data from the state Attorney General’s Office, there were 1,093 reported hate crimes in 2017, a 17.4 percent increase from the prior year. Anti-Jewish bias events rose from 82 in 2016 to 104 in 2017, an increase of 26.8 percent. Anti-Islamic (Muslim) bias events rose from 37 in 2016 to 46 in 2017.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom had announced a few weeks ago that he would put $15 million behind religious-based organizations strengthen security in response to recent attacks at places of worship.
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