Firefighters in Watsonville were responding to a vegetation fire sparked by fireworks when an even worse tragedy struck Sunday night.
While fire crews battled the blaze on Miles Ln., a drunk driver passed onto the scene, hit an emergency vehicle and didn't stop.
"The driver then put it in reverse, and collided with a firefighter that was on scene, as well as a pedestrian, along with multiple other parked vehicles," Sgt. Rudy Lopez told KCBS Radio.
The driver injured two other bystanders along with the firefighter. The suspect tried to flee the scene, but luckily civilians stepped in and prevented him from escaping.
"It’s nice when you have the community, when they witness something happen, they attempt to help justice be served by helping detain him," Lopez said. "We were quickly able to get him into handcuffs and then we had multiple people on scene that were cooperative and helped ID the driver.”
The injured firefighter was released from a local hospital while the two bystanders suffered moderate injuries and are expected to be okay.
The driver, who has yet to be identified, has been arrested and charged with driving under the influence.
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