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US Citizen Accused of Attempted Homicide After Ramming 17 Cars at San Ysidro POE

The incident happened in northbound traffic lanes, on the Tijuana side of the San Ysidro Port of Entry

A U.S. citizen was being held in Tijuana, Mexico, Tuesday on suspicion of attempted homicide and damage of property after his pickup truck drove into cars and street vendors just south of the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

The driver was identified as "Frank," a 29-year-old man originally from Utah according to Mexican law enforcement sources. 

NBC 7 has obtained images of the man taken into custody but due to his injuries, they may be disturbing to some users. 

This photo contains imagery that some viewers may find disturbing.
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Emergency personnel talk with the man arrested following the collision between a pickup with Utah plates and several pedestrians and cars near the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

The suspect drove his black Chevrolet Silverado with license V305LU into pedestrians and cars waiting their turn to cross into the United States, Mexican law enforcement officers told NBC 7.

Emergency personnel rushed to the northbound lanes just south of the port of entry when the incident occurred around 2 p.m. on Monday. 

Prior to that, the driver was involved in an altercation with a pedestrian, police said.

Mario Martinez, Tijuana's police director, said the suspect allegedly threatened a person with a razor on Avenida Manuel Márquez de León in the Zona Ríos.

When police approached the driver, he allegedly fled in his Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck toward the border crossing.

As he fled, the driver hit five pedestrians, including an officer; rammed 17 cars and hit 12 mobile street vendors, police said.

Fresno resident Lori Ray and her boyfriend were in the area after a weekend in Rosarito. 

"I just heard a lot of banging and crashing and then the sirens," Ray told NBC 7. She said their car was hit and pushed off to the side. 

She said what happened next was terrifying. 

"Locals, mostly vendors, people that were out on the streets, they had sticks and bats and all kinds of things, just waving them," she said. "They just beat the car, grabbed the people out of the car on to the ground."

She said the people with sticks and bats were beating the people who were inside the suspect's vehicle. 

Municipal police arrested the driver and he was turned over to federal investigators. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection told NBC 7 the incident did not impact wait times at the border.

No other information was available.

A U.S. citizen was arrested in Mexico after he drove into cars and pedestrians heading to the San Ysidro Port of Entry, injuring three people, including an officer. NBC 7’s Catherine Garcia has more.
A camera fixed on northbound border traffic lanes in Tijuana shows a suspect in a pickup truck driving recklessly, plowing into cars and pedestrians.
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