SACRAMENTO, CA (KCRA/CNN/RNN) – A protester at a vigil for Stephon Clark suffered minor injuries after she was hit by a sheriff’s department SUV Saturday night, the California Highway Patrol said.
About 150 people attended a candle-lit vigil and protest Saturday night outside the sheriff’s department’s office, The Associated Press reports.
Demonstrators began to march on neighborhood streets, blocking traffic and chanting, when two sheriff’s vehicles approached, according to the Sacramento Bee.
A deputy in the first vehicle issued multiple warnings to back away then pulled forward and left the scene.
The Bee reports the second SUV struck a protester, identified by witnesses as 61-year-old Wanda Cleveland.
Video of the incident, shot by legal observer Guy Danilowitz, shows the deputy accelerate toward and hit Cleveland, who was wearing dark clothes and walking toward the curb, KOVR reports.
Danilowitz says Cleveland held up her hand and made a stop motion toward the vehicle before it struck her.
Hectic scene, already frustrated #stephonclark protesters outraged now @FOX40 pic.twitter.com/h2Lk2T9qpD
— Ali Wolf (@awolfTV) April 1, 2018
Cleveland fell to the street and lay immobile, according to the Sacramento Bee, until the fire department picked her up and took her to the hospital. She sustained bruises on her arm and the back of her head.
“He never even stopped. It was a hit-and-run. If I did that, I’d be charged. It’s disregard for human life,” Cleveland told the Bee.
Earlier in the day, a peaceful demonstration drew 200 to 300 people, to a rally where Clark’s family urged the city not to let his memory or calls for police reform fade, according to the Associated Press.
Shouting "Hit and run" as ambulance takes off and protesters yell at CHP officers who just showed up @FOX40 pic.twitter.com/N4Gq5P1kv4
— Ali Wolf (@awolfTV) April 1, 2018
The rally came a day after a private autopsy released by the family showed Clark was shot six times in the back.
Clark was killed March 18 by two police officers responding to a call of someone breaking into car windows. They yelled he had a gun before the shooting, but it was only a cell phone.
Saturday night’s rally marked the fifth straight day of protests in the county.
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