Driver who struck 6 migrants in N.C. Walmart parking lot turns himself in

Aug. 1 (UPI) -- The driver who ran over six migrant workers in a North Carolina Walmart parking lot turned himself into police Monday night, stating the crash was an accident.

Police in Lincolnton, a North Carolina city of about 12,000 people located some 38 miles northwest of Charlotte, have been searching for a suspect they described as an older White man since about midday Sunday when six migrant workers were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after they were ran over in a Walmart Parking lot. Authorities said the crash appeared to have been "an intentional assault with a vehicle."

However, Lincolnton Police Department said in a statement that the suspect, identified as Daniel Gonzalez, turned himself into police shortly before 6 p.m. Monday, with members of his family informing officers that the 68-year-old man had accidentally hit the gas pedal as he was attempting to park at the Walmart and that he fled the scene in a panic after hitting the workers.

Authorities said the defendant has been cooperating with detectives and that the vehicle involved in the crash has been recovered. Gonzalez is being held on a $50,000 bond.

The crash involving a black SUV happened at about 1:20 p.m. Sunday, and police had taken to social media to ask for the public's help in identifying the vehicle and its driver.

Earlier Monday, the Lincolnton Police Department released a 40-second clip of the crash, showing the black SUV turn into a parking spot before accelerating and driving over a median strip on which a group of people were standing in the shade cast by a line of trees.

Jeff Crotts of Knob Greek Farm in Lawndale told NBC News that the injured migrants are legally in the United States as seasonal farm workers and that they hold agricultural-related visas.

Crotts said a bus had dropped them off in the parking lot to go shopping.