Background: The scene of the crash in the Safeway parking lot on Donner Pass Road in Truckee, California (GoFundMe). Inset: The Tahoe Titans baseball team (GoFundMe).
A man has been charged with deliberately driving his pickup truck into a group of young baseball players and their families who were fundraising outside a Safeway store in California.
Jonathan Maurer, aged 49, is facing several charges, which include eight counts of attempted murder and multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon. The Nevada County District Attorney’s Office also mentioned “several sentencing enhancements,” citing allegations of significant bodily harm and a prior criminal history, in their announcement.
The Tahoe Titans baseball team had organized a fundraiser, as detailed on their GoFundMe page, where the youngsters were “doing what small-town kids do best: working hard and supporting each other.” They were selling beef jerky outside the store on Saturday to collect funds for their upcoming trip to Cooperstown All-Star Village in New York.
The fundraising event, which had successfully raised $2,000 by 2 p.m., took a tragic turn, according to the GoFundMe account.
The page narrates that “a man drove his truck into the table and ran over the boys and moms,” resulting in two boys and one mother being hit and requiring ambulance transport to the hospital.
In total, seven individuals were injured in the incident — including three young players, three parents, and another family member of one of the boys. Fortunately, all of them survived the ordeal, as reported by Sacramento-based CBS affiliate KOVR.
One of the parents recalled the moments before the crash.
“He put a cigarette out on one of our signs, then came back out, gave us a weird look, mumbled something under his breath and walked away,” Jamie DeWit told the outlet. “The next thing I knew, myself and our boys were being pulled out of rubble.”
One of the players, Rowan Grant, added to KOVR: “I remember hearing the truck a half second before I got hit… When I got hit, I just felt a little tingle and then the pain came on. I got flung away.”
A photo shared by the GoFundMe shows a white pickup truck parked up against the side of a store, with shattered glass and other damage to the store.
“The allegations that this act was intentional and directed at kids is hard to comprehend,” said Jesse Wilson, Nevada County district attorney. “Our office will work through the criminal justice process and, if the evidence supports the charges, do everything we can, to the fullest extent of the law, to hold this individual accountable, send a clear message that this behavior has no place in society, and protect the public from further harm.”
Authorities have not released a possible motive for Maurer.
Despite the harrowing ordeal, the Tahoe Titans said they are grateful for the support they have been shown and are still excited about their trip to New York.
