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Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > Jeep Jihad's family "aghast" at attack- attended Bakr Al Siddiq mosque where car plowed into bystanders 3 weeks before Jeep Jihad's family "aghast" at attack- attended Bakr Al Siddiq mosque where car plowed into bystanders 3 weeks beforeAugust 31, 2006
------------ http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/15259085.htm Posted on Sat, Aug. 12, 2006Car injures 11 outside mosque By Ricci Graham MediaNews A 77-year-old man plowed his car into a group gathered outside a Hayward mosque Friday afternoon, injuring 11, police said. Because the members of the Abu Bakr Siddiq Mosque mostly belong to the Afghan community, reports of the incident initially sparked fears of a hate crime, but Sgt. Corey Quinn said police are investigating the incident as an accident. Four of the people hit in the parking lot of the mosque were treated at a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, Quinn said, with seven others declining immediate medical care. The driver, who was unhurt, was not cited, Quinn said. "It was not on purpose," Quinn said. "It was one of those things that just happened." Quinn declined to identify the man, who was driving a 2001 Cadillac. But mosque member Ali Mardanzai, 65, identified the man as a retired Fremont physician. Mardanzai said the group was standing in front of the mosque about 2:15 p.m. after a prayer service and preparing to drive to a funeral at Chapel of the Chimes when the driver entered the parking lot to drop off his wife. After she got out of the car, Mardanzai said, the car began to move again. But it appeared the driver might have hit the gas pedal instead of the brake while maneuvering through the horseshoe-shaped driveway, Mardanzai said. The Cadillac slammed into the crowd of people before jumping a parking lot divider and crashing into a parked Toyota sport-utility vehicle. The driver "was very white, he was very pale," Mardanzai said. "He was very worried." Although Quinn said he did not know any details about injuries, witnesses said three people suffered broken legs. "He's an old person," Mohammad W. Azizi said of the driver. "He was just out of control." The dazed driver stood underneath a tree in the corner of the parking lot with his wife, who was seated in a chair, and the two watched as officers cordoned off the area while investigating. He was escorted from the mosque by his daughter about 90 minutes after the accident. "The car just jumped," she said. "He said the car just jumped." After the car came to rest, Azizi said, people raced over to help those who were injured, he said. "Just an accident," Azizi said. "He's a good person. He's a very intelligent person. It was just an accident." ----------- |