A 20-year-old driver faces a misdemeanor charge after allegedly throwing items at a vehicle parade of President Donald Trump supporters on Sunday afternoon, and later causing a three-vehicle crash, according to Santa Maria police.
On Monday, police Sgt. Nathan Totorica said the driver, Jacob Garza of Santa Maria, began to follow and interject himself into the vehicle rally by throwing a bottle of water and other items while yelling at participants in the event, which organizers called "Stop the Steal."
As the rally continued westbound, Garza turned onto College Drive and ended up traveling at a high speed south on Speed Street, Totorica said.
He reportedly ignored the stop sign at Speed Street and Stowell Road, traveled into the intersection without yielding, and hit an eastbound vehicle, which then struck a third vehicle.
The second vehicle overturned, injuring two people inside, with one person having a broken arm and the other having bruising, Totorica said.
Officers arrived to find a chaotic scene due to the altercation between witnesses to the crash and Garza.
“The stories that we heard were definitely varied, and we saw a lot of video, but we didn’t get one full video,” Totorica said.
“We don’t know if he tried to flee, we don’t know if he got pulled out of the car, we don’t know how it began other than there was an altercation that occurred,” Totorica said, adding that responding police saw people holding Garza on the ground.
Viral video posted online shows one man with his arm around Garza’s neck and others holding him down.
There are comments on the video such as, “Welcome to MAGA Country, (expletive).”
At one point, according to video footage, bystanders tell people on top of Garza several times, “Let him breathe. Let him breathe."
Garza was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving causing injury, which is a misdemeanor allegation, Totorica said.
In a GoFundMe page Garza started early Monday, he has claimed he was “the victim of a hate crime.”
“I was targeted and attacked in the midst of a Trump rally for simply being gay,” he wrote. “I was followed and harassed, which ultimately led to a multi-car accident while trying to escape. I was dragged, degraded, and assaulted until police arrived on scene.
“Any form of donations would be greatly appreciated for legal fees and medical expenses.”
Santa Maria police said Monday that the initial investigation did not reveal any evidence the incident had any ties to a hate crime or that other drivers followed Garza when he turned off Stowell Road.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
