Police have arrested a man who they say drove through a crowd of protesters and seriously injured a woman during a weekend demonstration in downtown Riverside.
It happened around 9:10 p.m. Saturday on University Avenue between Orange and Main Streets, where several thousand people had gathered for one of hundreds of “No Kings” protests across the globe.
According to police, a black SUV drove into the crowd and struck a young woman before fleeing the scene.
Video posted online showed the moment a vehicle turned sharply toward the demonstrators and accelerated, hitting at least one person before driving off. “They just ran over my sister,” a woman is heard shouting in the footage.
Paramedics treated the injured woman at the scene and took her to a hospital, where she remains in critical but stable condition.
Using the SUV’s license plate, robbery-homicide detectives identified the driver as 58-year-old Russell Prentice of Riverside.
Prentice was arrested Monday on the 4700 block of Jackson Street, and was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside where he awaits charges for assault with a deadly weapon and hit-and-run causing injury.
Police also arrested 39-year-old Candase Wenzel of Riverside, who they say helped move the vehicle to Phelan and attempted to destroy and conceal evidence. She faces charges of accessory after the fact and destruction of evidence, police said.
“From the officers in the field that night to our detectives who immediately launched the investigation, along with support from our Crime Analysis Unit and METRO Team, this case was solved quickly thanks to their combined efforts,” Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez said. “Equally important were the tips we received from our community.”
The investigation remains ongoing and anyone with information is urged to contact the Riverside Police Department.