A 29-year-old man crashed a car into a dumpster, knocking it over and injuring a man walking near 17th and Capp streets Wednesday evening. The suspect was taken to Mission police station on suspicion of drunk driving, police said.
An ambulance took the victim, whose injuries were not life-threatening, to San Francisco General Hospital.
The victim was walking southbound when the driver, who appeared to have his eyes closed, drove into the two dumpsters. One of the dumpsters then hit the victim from behind, witness Rafael Montahez said.
“I turned to look at the driver and I saw him sleeping,” Montahez said. “I don’t know if he was drunk or not.”
The victim said he was walking to the market when he was hit. His wife quickly appeared and alerted police to the incident.
Dressed in a pink nightgown, she approached the suspect and reached for his keys.
“No, no, you’re not leaving,” she said.
The victim lay on the ground, holding his bleeding leg. Police vehicles and other patrols arrived within minutes.
“The vehicle was traveling northbound at a high speed…a suspected DUI,” Officer G. Bernal said.
At the Mission District community meeting on Tuesday night, Captain Greg Corrales told attendees that Mission station had overtaken the Richmond as the station with the highest number of drunk-driving arrests.
Should have more dumpsters and dumpster-like objects to protect pedestrians.