A man was charged with attempted murder after making anti-Asian comments and ramming his pickup truck into a group of picnickers in Chicago, several media outlets reported.
Man charged with murder after ramming his pickup truck into group of picnickers
Police said Timothy Nielsen, 57, approached a group of 10 people celebrating a birthday on Sunday and complained about their dogs
Nielsen then deliberately swerved his car over the curb into the crowd, and struck first one person who tried to flee from them leaving minor injuries, and then struck a 42-year-old woman, who tried to flee, but fell under the van with major injuries that required a hospital stay.
Prosecutors said Nielsen drove over bicycles, chairs and a Yeti cooler before his van struck people.
Cook County Prosecutor John Fitzgerald Lyke ordered Nielsen held without bond.
Rob Lopez, a friend of the woman who was admitted to the hospital, said Nielsen yelled anti-Asian epithets at a member of the group before driving his truck over them.
A woman who lived nearby told police that Nielsen parked his car before the incident and complained to her about the “yuppies on the boulevard with their dogs” and then told her “look, what I’m going to do.”
Media reports have also said that Nielsen pulled out a knife and brandished it at people in the group who tried to pull him out of his car after he ran over the woman.
